


Out of the Woods

by Alruix



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29257563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alruix/pseuds/Alruix
Summary: Season 9. Starts with the first few episodes, and it's been a year since the plane crashed. All problems with the plane have been resolved. (Arizona's leg wasn't amputated, Derek's hand is fixed, Cristina is back from Minnesota, and so on.) This isn't focusing on the plane crash, but does have a few flashbacks.Now that the timeline has been established, here's my crappy summary.Ever since the plane crashed, Derek worked himself up about the smallest things. But what happens when something he convinces himself is no big deal, ends up turning his world upside down?Disclaimer - I do not own Grey's Anatomy, just this plot and a single character.I'm not a surgeon or a doctor so if there are medical terms, they may be inaccurate.I will try to be uploading at least once a week, it depends on my creative flow.
Relationships: Jo Wilson/Alex Karev, Meredith Grey/Derek Shepherd
Comments: 22
Kudos: 36





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I'm toying with idea and not sure how I feel about it. So leave a review/comment if you would like to see more. They are greatly appreciated.

“Medusa’s not in today, is she?” the bright-eyed intern said more a statement than a question.

“Thank god. I’ll live to see tomorrow,” a second intern replied, internally sighing in relief.

The pair made their way into the locker area and found their three friends changing into scrubs. 

A few minutes later, the small group of interns sat in the locker room. The five of them were checking whose service they were on for the week. A male intern spoke for the first time.

“That’s odd.” 

“What is?” a fourth intern asked.

“I’ve got Grey, but she didn’t come in today,” the only male intern replied.

They were barely into their first month of internship and already nicknamed most of the attendings, even some residents.

“You never learn do you, Shane?” The dark skinned woman said.

A couple of them chuckled at that.

“I don’t understand, Steph.” Shane said.

“There are technical glitches almost every week. Go to the nurses station and see who you have for today,” Stephanie instructed.

Shane felt a certain kinship with the nurses. Interns and nurses were usually thrown aside when the attending or resident got there. He knew that he and his comrades were still learning, but he was infuriated when the nurses would be discarded. They were already fully educated. I mean really, how much would get done without nurses? How many people would suffer then? He pulled himself out of his thoughts when he got off the elevator, and nurse Gloria gave him a bright smile.

“Good morning, Ross,” she said happily.

“Morning Gloria. I think there may have been a mix-up with my assigned service for the week. Could you take a look?” he asked.

“Absolutely, this happens all the time. We should be getting an upgraded system soon,” she said, taking the tablet from him.

“It seems to be right for once. You are indeed on Dr. Grey's service for the week.”

“She didn’t come in today,” Shane said.

Gloria then moved to the computer and starts to type rapidly on the keyboard. The chair rolls out from behind so they can clearly see one another.

“Her surgeries for the day are still scheduled, and she didn’t call to take an emergency day…” she trailed off, her smile fading. A few seconds later, a wider smile replaced the previous one and she continued.

“You can join Bailey’s service for today, but tomorrow everything should be back on track.”

“Thanks Gloria,” Shane smiled and turned back for the elevator. He found it somewhat odd that she had plastered a fake smile on her face, and if he couldn’t read people so well, he would never have known something was off. 

While he was waiting for the doors to close, Shane saw Gloria quickly reach for the phone. He was too far away to hear distinct words, but she was a generally loud person and he could hear her tone. The doors opened and he was once again headed back into the locker room. Four friendly smiles met his and he sat next to them on a bench. 

“Problem resolved?” the blonde woman asked.

“Yes. I’m tagging with BCB today, Heather.” he answered. Every single one of them chuckled at Miranda Bailey’s nickname. It was harsh, but so were the attendings. He liked how they all called each other by their first names, unlike every other doctor in this place. Shane thought about telling them about what he saw downstairs, but shoved it into a mental filing cabinet. The brunette intern’s pager went off and she scurried out of the room. They sat there for a couple more minutes before heading off to start the day’s work.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not have a beta reader, so this is just raw work. I may make a few edits in the near future.

“Dr. Bailey.” 

She spun around and was greeted by an overly-eager, bright-eyed, and naïve intern. They are all the same, but they always learn. Even though she didn’t have her own crop of interns this year, she still felt a distant urge to turn into a 'Momma-bear'. 

“Ross, what can I do for you?” she asked in a flat tone.

“I’m on your service today. Grey’s out.” he stated.

She handed the intern a patient’s chart.

“Jorge Navarro, 28 year old male admitted to the E.R with end-stage kidney disease. He’s over a year sober, so we’re waiting on U.N.O.S to confirm and we can start kidney procurement. Monitor him, and update me with any changes,” she adjusted her white lab coat before walking off, leaving him alone. All he felt was annoyed that he had to sit around waiting for the phone to ring.

Bailey looked back at the intern who was staring at the ceiling in boredom. She chuckled to herself, and turned back just in time to avoid colliding with another doctor. Every single time she saw any of the ‘Seattle 6’, her heart would drop, and this time was like all the others. She knew they hated to be looked at sympathetically, but it was something she just couldn’t help. 

“Shepherd,” she nodded at him in acknowledgement, passing him.

“Miranda Bailey!” he smiled, causing her to turn around.

She looked at him curiously; he didn’t look like he wanted to say more, so she turned back again. Annoyance built up in her when she heard him call out again.

“You know I have a job to do? Patients to see and heal,” she couldn’t keep the words flying from her mouth, and honestly? She didn’t care.

Derek was glad to be around someone who didn’t treat him like he was cracking glass. 

“Have you seen my wife?” he asked.

“She took a day off,” she looked at him quizzically. “Didn’t you know?”

“No,” he replied, and she shrugged before turning back and walking off.

He couldn’t help from feeling worried. Every time he didn’t know where Meredith was, he would freak out. He knew this was because of the plane. His legs carried him throughout the halls of the hospital, seemingly void of a destination. Memories of those four days flooded his brain.

_He woke up, and immediately slammed his eyes shut. He opened them again, squinting._

_“I’m sleeping here,” he groaned, thinking someone had barged in on him while he was trying to sleep in an on-call room. But there was no one. No walls, no ceiling, no warmth. Nothing. He felt something jabbing his back. ‘The mattresses at the hospital are not that bad.’ he thought. Suddenly, he became aware of his surroundings. The sound of birds' wings flapping startled him. His backside was completely wet. He didn’t remember leaving the hospital._

_As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw branches. His eyes darted around. Trees, rocks…_

_“That's what’s been jammed into my back,” he said aloud._

_He continued to look around and his eyes landed on white. They started on the tip, and then moved forward, until he saw his hand. It was mangled and bloody. ‘How the hell did my hand get embedded into a plane?’ He tugged, trying to pull his hand out, but it wouldn’t budge. Sitting there for a few moments, he scavenged his brain for anything on how he got into this situation._

_He managed to remember that they were flying to Boise, Idaho to work on separating a pair of conjoined twins. But how.._

_“Oh my god,” he said, voice fading into the wind._

_The plane crashed. He wasn’t alone on the plane; where was everyone else? Meredith. His hopes dwindled when he surveyed the clearing and didn’t see her, Cristina, Mark, Arizona, or even Lexie. He knew they were out there somewhere, dead or alive. He refused to believe the latter. His attempts at sitting up were futile, since his hand was an obvious factor to his torment, still he tried. He heard a noise, which made him freeze. He heard it again, and again. As it grew closer, he could hear his name echoing throughout the forest. ‘Am I dreaming?’_

_“Derek..k..k…”_

_“Meredith!” he yelled. He found a sudden boost of energy and tried sitting up again. She was alive, and she was searching for him. In his latest attempt to get up, his hand moved in the plane, causing searing pain to flow through him._

_“Meredith” he tried, but his voice came out much quieter than he had anticipated. The pain made it hard to focus on anything else. Meredith was no longer yelling his name, and he didn’t know if he would be able to find them if they left. His free hand moved along the dirt, searching for something, anything that could get him free. He found something hard with jagged edges. At this moment in time, it didn’t matter that this could potentially end his career, he just needed to get to her._

_So, he took the rock and slammed it on his hand, and it came loose. He saw birds flying away when his scream broke the silence._

_He managed to stand up and stumble around the trees. He heard someone in the distance and that was his beacon. Relief is an understatement to what he was feeling when he saw Meredith and Cristina talking and moving. ‘No neurological damage. Quit it, now is not the time to be a doctor. Or maybe it is.’ He clutched his left arm with his right. When he was closer, they both looked his way._

_“Meredith.”_

_He panted, out of breath._

_“Oh, I heard your voice. I thought I- I thought I was dreaming.”_

_Black spotted at the edge of his vision and he felt himself crumple to the ground._

When he was pulled out of his memory, he was in a supply closet; hyperventilating.

He told himself Meredith was fine, she was ok. They weren’t in a plane crash, not anymore. ‘Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to check. No, if you’re ever going to get past this, stop worrying all the time Derek.’ He warred with himself. He wasn’t indecisive, but recent events caused him to over exaggerate every little thing. When he left the supply closet, he found a few nurses congregating outside. They pretended they were discussing patients, which was no better since they were violating HIPAA. 

“You have jobs,” he hinted, but they didn’t move. “Go do them.”

The nurses took offence, but nonetheless went back to their patients. Derek pulled out his phone, and there was nothing. He had no surgeries for another half hour, and it was obvious no one was in need of immediate medical assistance, so he took out his phone and called Meredith.

It rang once…

A second time...

Then a third...

Finally, it rang a fourth time before it went to voicemail. He left a short message asking her to call him back as soon as possible. He would be performing another surgery before too long. He took a few minutes to put aside his worry, because he knew he was blowing things out of proportion. He made his way to his patient who was in pre-op. Derek Shepherd no longer existed, and Dr. Shepherd took over.

\--

His mood was brightened and he was scrubbing out. It was a common procedure for him; clipping an aneurysm. He was glad that it didn’t rupture and the clip was holding. He dried his hands and grabbed his lab coat, leaving the O.R behind him. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he called Meredith again after seeing no response from her. Thankfully, this time she answered.

“Hello?”

“Meredith, where are you? Why aren’t you at the hospital?” he asked, not bothering to hide his concern.

There was silence on the other end, and he sucked in a deep breath.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes Derek, I’m fine.”

He knew that when she said those two words, it was usually the exact opposite. He was about to say more, when she continued.

“I was heading in when I noticed I felt a little nauseous, and I didn’t want to risk the health of my patients,” she explained. 

“Then why didn’t you call in sick?”

“Really? After all that’s happened, you think I have any sick days left?” 

Derek’s heart fluttered rather than laughing out loud. In the silence, he heard shuffling in the background. He was going to ask what she was doing, but she spoke before he could.

“Anyways, you have patients, so I should go,” she said.

“I’m glad that you’re okay. I love you,” he said, staring at his phone.

“Yes I am fine. I love you too.”

He heard the dial tone, and saw the ‘Call Ended’ message. He stared at his phone, mind running wild. Something was wrong. It wasn’t his mind convincing him this, it was his gut. That was something never to be ignored.

\---

After Meredith hung up the phone, she felt cool metal leave her forehead. She tried to tell Derek, but it was rather hard to do that with the other person in the room. She was sitting on her couch in the dream house Derek built for them. They had just moved in, and it was already not so dreamy. Meredith shuddered as she saw the man slowly back away. It wasn’t the man she was worried about, it was the gun pointed at her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment/review. This isn't my first rodeo, so don't be afraid to be critical. It's helpful to know what you think, since it's for your enjoyment.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1 year after the plane crash. Some scenes can be found in 9x03 even though it hasn't been a year yet. I really wanted to include Jo and Alex, and believed it was best to incorporate their real first meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - In this chapter, there are a few moments from Grey’s strewn about and you could skip over them if you wish. The flashbacks are in Italics.
> 
> A/N 2 - I know that the timeline in this story is not in correlation with the one in Grey’s. It’s a fanfiction, so if I want to screw up the timeline, I can very well do what I please.

It took all the strength she had to stay still. She was feeling practically every negative emotion that ever existed. She watched as the man lowered the gun and started pacing back and forth in front of her. He clearly didn’t know what he was doing. She made a mental note of that; she knew it would be useful later. The clock in her head was counting the seconds that passed, they then turned to minutes, and minutes turned into hours. As more time passed, she felt hope rise within her; even if it was minuscule. Derek would be home sometime between the evening and sunrise. 

The man sat down in the chair adjacent to her spot on the couch. He looked her dead in the eyes. If he was anybody else, she would have looked away. This man made her feel nostalgic, and she couldn’t place a name with his face. It was becoming clear to her that she had met him before; at least once, if not more. In his eyes, she could tell he’d lost someone. She knew the look well; because his eyes were her own. Her heart skipped a beat as a sudden chuckle erupted from him. 

“I’m sorry for whatever it is you’re going through, but you’re not going to overcome it by shoving it down and ignoring it. It’ll still be there the next time you check.” She felt the idiocy of her words linger in the air. When people did that; try to reason with someone unstable, they usually ended up dead or near-death a minute later. Still, she felt obligated to try. Try to talk him down, to get him to leave, to never see him again. She couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. This was the second time she had a gun pointed at her. 

_ Meredith and Cristina were walking through the halls, looking to warn Derek that the shooter was searching for him. They leaned into each other, praying that they wouldn’t run into the wrong man. Meredith stopped in her tracks, and if they weren’t walking so slow, Cristina would’ve rammed into her. _

_ Cristina barely had time to register what was happening as she grabbed Meredith and held her back. She looked up and saw the man from the elevator pointing a gun at Derek. _

_ They both started to walk forward. She kept Meredith from walking too far out, as the shooter would be able to see them if he looked even a little bit to his right. Luckily, he didn’t. Unluckily, his sights were set on Derek. _

_ Meredith was shaking - which was slowly moving to hyperventilating - as they watched the encounter. It looked like Derek was trying to reason with him. Cristina couldn’t help but notice his eyes moving from the gun back to the man. The man’s arm was quivering, and he started walking closer to Derek, who put his hands up in surrender.  _

_ Seconds later, they watched as the man slowly started to lower his gun. Whatever Derek said had worked.  _

_ The two men stood there, and it was a moment where no one knew what to do next.  _

_ Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to make that choice as April Kepner came running through the double doors behind Derek, unaware of the present events.  _

_ Derek turned around, eyes wide. The man didn’t waste a second in raising the gun once more.  _

_ Meredith knew what was happening before they heard the shot ring out. _

She shuddered at the memory, and looked down. When she looked back up, the man was staring intensely at her, which made her stomach churn. 

\---

“You mind?” Alex said, annoyed at the arm in his way.

“Sorry,” a female voice mumbled.

He went to meet Callie and Ross at the ambulance bay. Incoming traumas always woke him up. The footsteps behind him grew louder as they grew closer. He looked back and saw the same intern who was in his way not just seconds ago.

“Why are you following me?” 

“I’m your intern for the day,” the brunette answered with a smile.

This woman was one of the few he hadn’t slept with. At least not yet anyways.

“Oh. Well, hello, intern. You have a name?”

“Jo Wilson,” she smiled at him.

Yea, there was no way he was passing her up.

“Oh, nice. I like chicks with boys' names.”

“Karev,” Callie warned.

“What? I do. It’s hot.”

“Stop sleeping with your coworkers. It ruins them,” Callie advised.

“I slept with you,” Alex remarked.

“And now I no longer sleep with men!” she said, raising her arms in mock surprise.

The two interns exchanged glances as the ambulance pulled up.

After they examined the patient, Jo was hoping to scrub in on the surgery. The girl’s foot was practically hanging on by a thread and it was a miracle she was still able to move her toes. It would be an amazing surgery to scrub in on, or even observe. She went to hop in the elevator, when Karev pushed her back.

“This might take a while. I need you to stay behind and monitor my pre and post-ops,” he instructed.

“Oh. But, um… I had hoped- since I was the one who saw the toes move, I’d hoped that I..” she cut herself off and shoved down her disappointment.

“But you need me to monitor your pre and post-ops. Got it. Great,” she said as the elevator door closed.

Callie looked at him in mild disbelief.

“You could’ve let her scrub in, or stand back and observe,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because she has joy,” Callie’s voice raised an octave. “I like joy, excitement, happiness, people looking at me like I know things. She practically squealed when I mentioned nerve testing.” she sighed.

“There needs to be more squealing,” she stated, watching the numbers on the elevator.

“I can squeal if you want me to,” Alex suggested.

“That sounds dirty, and inappropriate. Oh, which I hear is your specialty these days!” 

Shane rolled his eyes behind the two attendings and the pleasant ‘Ding’ filled the small room. That elevator could not have moved slower.

After an entire day of failed attempts to get Karev to let her in on a surgery, she doubted she would ever see the inside of an OR. She saw him walking down the stairs, and immediately began listing the things she’d done in the past few hours.

“Dr. Karev, I’ve rounded on your pre-ops, your post-ops, I’ve run your labs, and I’m updating your charts right now,” she said proudly.

Her words didn’t seem to register, as he was looking through various papers on the Nurses station. 

“What about my consult on the J.R.A kid? You schedule that yet?” he asked, picking up on what she was doing.

“Um, no, I-I haven’t had a chance to-”

“You kidding me?” he interrupted. “Stop with the charting. Do it now."

Jo felt like she was punched in the stomach and tried to hold back her tears, but was failing miserably.

“Or don’t,” he said.

“No, I’m-I’m sorry. I’ll schedule it. God, I can’t believe I’m crying in front of my boss. I told myself that I wouldn’t do this.”

Alex stood there, waiting for her to finish. He remembered what it was like to be an intern, and it wasn’t difficult to be sympathetic.

“Look, I’m not supposed to be this person. I don’t fail. I was valedictorian of my high school, graduated cum laude from Princeton, I was first in my class at Harvard. How am I not getting this? I’ve somehow become the loser intern. I-I blew the appy with Dr. Grey, and you’ve been piling on the scut, so clearly I pissed you off somehow.”

He managed to cut in before she continued her rambling.

“You get scut because you’re an intern. That’s what interns do, it’s the best way to learn. And, you haven’t pissed me off,” he said, noticing the tears were no longer flowing down her cheeks.

“I haven’t?” she asked.

“No, I’m just…” he sighed deeply. “Dr. Torres may have told me not to flirt with you. Because it may be possible that I dated a couple of other interns,” he raised his voice like it was a question.

“You mean Heather,” she said frankly. 

“Yeah, her.”

“And Leah.”

“Yeah-” he began, but she cut him off.

“And Susan, Stacey, Tina, Irene. Don’t worry about the flirting. I have absolutely no interest in you since you’ve basically screwed every one of my friends,” she raised her eyebrows at him. 

“I should go,” he said, glad to flee from the awkward conversation.

She sighed, and he turned around.

“8 A.M tomorrow. I’m doing a Nissen. Don’t be late,” he said with a bit of warning in his voice.

She heard his footsteps depart and noticed the smile that grew on her face. The elevator gave it’s usual ‘Ding’, before opening, and Dr. Yang quickly exited. The Cardiothoracic surgeon was heading towards her, and she felt herself tense up.

“Dr. Yang,” she said professionally.

“Intern,” she looked at her. “Whose service are you on today?” she asked.

“Karev,” she replied. “He’s finally going to let me in on a-”

“I don’t really have the time or need to listen to your problems. Which of you interns has Grey?” she interrupted, getting straight to the point.

Jo sighed. Interns were of no significance to the attendings who had their own problems to worry about.

“Ross did. But she’s not in, so he’s with Bailey,” she explained.

“What do you mean Dopey- er, Happy’s with Bailey? She’s not in?” Yang raised an eyebrow. 

“She’s not feeling well or something,” Jo said to air as she saw her walking away.

“Why can I never find her when I need to talk?” Jo heard her mutter to herself. She watched as Dr. Yang disappeared down a hallway. 

\---

Meredith took a moment to survey the man. His unkempt blonde hair fell in front of his face, and occasionally his eyes. When he was pacing, she noticed how tall he was. He was at least 6 feet. The eyes filled with loss were cerulean, which made them pop out against his pale skin. He wore a heavy jacket, and jeans. The defining feature though, is the scar that runs from the top of his forehead, down to his eyebrow. She could tell from the scar that he hit his head on a sharp object many years ago. Whoever sutured it did a poor job, and it showed. She was surprised to see another one from under his right ear to his collarbone. About four inches. Either this man was accident prone, or he had a dark past. It was undeniably the latter. 

He was still staring at her, and noticed she was genuinely looking at him too. He hoped she would recognize him, but when she leaned back and looked away, it didn’t seem like she would. He continued to stare at her, as he couldn’t tear his eyes away. It had been years, and he couldn’t get over the fact that she was sitting in front of him, even if it was unwillingly. In his mind, he started to run through the different ways he could’ve done this differently. None of the other ways could’ve guaranteed her talking to him. 

The house was completely silent. He focused on her again and noticed the wrinkle above her nose. That didn’t change throughout the years. She still did that when she was in deep thought, or preparing the exact right thing to say. He realized she was trying to avoid pissing him off. God, if only she knew.

She broke the silence and spoke softly.

“Look, I’m sure whatever happened was horrible..” she momentarily trailed off. She thought about every bad thing that ever happened to her. The plane crash, the drowning, the shooting, the bomb...

_ “You have a feeling?” she heard Cristina ask, and she removed the pillow that was covering her face. _

_ “Yes,” she stated flatly, turning to her other side.  _

_ “Okay, what kind of feeling?”  _

_ “Like I might die,” she answered. _

_ “Today, tomorrow, in 50 years? ‘Cause we’re all going to die eventually. But now we’re late. Let’s go.” Cristina pressed on, annoyed and eager to get to work. _

_ “Cristina, come on!” she heard herself saying. _

_ The curly-haired woman sighed and sat next to Meredith on the bed. _

_ “Okay, this is me being supportive,” she stated, throwing her dark hair behind her shoulders. _

_ “Really?” _

_ “Yeah, okay, fine. I’m totally supportive. Go.” Cristina leaned forward on her hand, waiting for Meredith’s response. _

_ “Okay, the man I love has a wife, and then he chooses her over me, and that wife takes my dog. Okay, she didn’t take my dog, I gave it to her. But I didn’t mean to give it to her, I meant to give it to him. But that does not change the fact that she’s got my McDreamy. And my McDog. She’s got my McLife! And what have I got?” _

_ Meredith paused, staring into Cristina’s eyes.  _

_ “Do you know I can’t remember the last time we kissed? ‘Cause you never think the last time is the last time. You think there’s going to be more. You think you have forever, but you don’t.” _

She felt tears prick away at her eyes and let herself think, just for a moment, that the last time she’ll have seen Derek would be the previous night. She recalled the time she had a “Just for a moment” thought, and that resulted in one of her many near-death experiences, that one particularly with water. No, no more of those. She would not let herself even think about having another negative - even if it be - a second long thought.

Something in her vision was darting back and forth and she realized she zoned out. 

His hand stopped waving once her eyes were no longer distant, but looking straight at him. He was infuriated that she didn’t remember who he was. She’d meant so much to him, and he seemed to be discarded from her memory. How was that even possible? She was involved in his life; in more ways that one, but she didn’t know that. Yet.

He jumped slightly when he heard her voice.

“Kidnapping innocent people off the streets is not a good way to cope. Your pain is very real, I had nothing to do with that, but I’d be willing to help,” she was shocked at how genuine she sounded. There were parts of her that wanted to help him, but other parts where she just wanted to knock him out and run to Derek and Zola.

He didn’t speak for a while, and she felt something click. She didn’t know how or why. Possibilities ran through her brain, finally realizing there was a reason why she was here. Her of all people. If he needed help, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out she was a doctor. It was possible that he could be someone from the past. It was also possible that it could be Gary Clark all over again. 

She sighed and looked over, and she felt relief wash over her tenfold. He had set the gun on the end table. She was not in any immediate danger, but she could do or say the wrong thing and that could change in an instant. There was some part of her, some deep twisted part of her that felt safe and comfortable. She was telling herself she had a brain tumor, because there was absolutely no other reason to have positive feelings towards a man who had been threatening to kill her for the last six hours. 

It seemed like he was at a dead-end. She assumed he expected to get it over with hours ago, and in his far-off state, she pounced at her chance. 

She wasn’t oblivious; she knew that he was aware enough to be able to stop her if she reached for the gun. The thought had crossed her mind, but she explained it away. Her mind concocted a new strategy, and she subtly interrogated him.

“Who did you lose?” she asked.

“No one,” he said curtly.

She almost snorted at that, but then remembered her situation. 

“I’ve seen too much loss, and been through too much pain to not notice the signs of grief.”

He nodded, but she didn’t think he’d actually heard her. She knew she couldn’t pry, or else he would catch on. They sat for what seemed to be an eternity. Every time the fear seemed to trickle away, she would see the gun and it would come rushing back instantly. ‘Think Mer, think! You don’t freeze in a crisis, do something!’ she instructed herself. Usually, she was chock full of ideas and plans, but Jr. People-shooting hat guy over here was NOT helping. She decided to stop searching for plans, but let them come to her. ‘If only I could get him to open up’, she wondered. She knew that if she got out of this alive, the police would need a description, and at best; a name.

Instead of sitting in silence, she opted to tell him about one of her numerous near-death experiences. 

“Last year me and my colleagues were flying out of state to do a surgery on conjoined twins.”

She sighed at the still painful, recent memories, but this was the story she had to tell to get him to share more about himself.

“We were halfway there, I think, when the plane went into mechanical failure and crashed.”

She almost missed the small movement he made when she said that. Maybe she deluded herself into believing he moved, and it was better to think he was listening.

“I don’t really know all too much about planes, but..” she began to ramble but cut herself off when she remembered what she was trying to do.

“Since it’s still fresh in my mind, I won’t go into great detail. We crashed, and the first person I saw was my best friend Cristina yelling at me to get up. We found a few of our friends near a different part of the plane.”

She paused, remembering Arizona’s screams, and the worry that consumed her when she didn’t know where Derek or Lexie were.

“Arizona, a fellow surgeon, was in hysterics. We could all see her femur sticking out of her leg. Mark found his way to us, and we soon heard a continuous banging in the distance.”

She inhaled sharply, and looked down at her hands. His eyes were on her, almost sympathetic. 

‘That’s not what I need,’ she said in her mind. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, and continued to share her story, though she was quickly forgetting why she was telling him this.

“Lexie, my sister, was pinned under a piece of the plane. She had massive crush injuries because of the wing she was trapped under. She was stable, so I went to go find my husband, Derek.”

She was surprised to hear him interject.

“Husband? Your husband, sister, AND best friend were on the plane?”

She didn’t respond, just looked back down at her hands. They had both temporarily forgotten the events from earlier in the day. She could go back to worrying after she got a story out of him. 

“After my failed attempts, I went back to ‘Camp’ and Cristina told me Lexie was in bad shape. But by the time I got there, she..sh-”

He cut her off, understanding. 

“She died,” he said. Meredith couldn’t tell what he was feeling.

“Well yes, but-”

She was cut off yet again

“Say no more.” 

She didn’t say anything else, neither did he. Worry riddled her bones, and she was suddenly doubting her attempt to get him to open up.

She looked at the clock, shocked to see that it was already 4:30. ‘Derek will be home soon’, she assured herself. She continued to stare at the clock, its stubborn hands refusing to move faster.

Just when she thought she’d given up hope, he spoke.

“I did lose someone. Three years ago I lost my mom. A few months later, my dad died too.”

She was not expecting that. 

“Three years is a long time to be carrying that much grief around.”

“I agree. But there are factors only time can resolve.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“My father was not taking my mother’s death well. Not one bit. He thought she would get better, but she signed those forms. The forms, what are they called? The ones that say you don’t want machines breathing for you?”

“DNR. Do not resuscitate,” she offered.

“Yes. She signed the DNR forms. But my dad, he..he was in denial.”

Meredith felt something familiar, that same feeling. She saw family members in denial trying to get doctors to ignore the patient’s wishes, at least once a week. So why was she feeling so queasy?

She thought back to the shooting just a few short years ago. She learned that day how far someone would go for someone they loved; what grief could make them do. 

“He filed for a lawsuit against the hospital for wrongful death and lost. H-”

He looked at Meredith, then at the spacious, open room behind her. He knew that face well, it meant she was in deep thought. He watched as her brain picked up the pieces. She knew.

“He shot up a hospital. Shot 18, killed 11.”

Merdith looked up at him with pure hatred and rage, a war was being fought behind her green eyes. She shot out of her seat as if it were on fire.

“He killed 12. Your father is the reason that I lost my baby!” she shouted.

He hadn’t anticipated that. He was hoping she would figure out the second part, but all she could focus on was her hatred for Gary Clark, and this man who was no doubt, his son.

“So you’re going to..what? Kill me? Do what your father couldn’t?” she began.

He hadn’t planned that far ahead. Even though he’d been planning this for two years, he still had no idea what to do. He remembered how he spiraled after his dad died. ‘That’s when it happened,’ he told himself. There was a point when he’d lost his mind, and that was it.

\---

(Flashback)

It took him over a year to make the connection. The police’s light investigation was a mere courtesy for the victims’ families. His father’s motive was clear enough: get ‘justice’ by killing the three physicians who were on his mother’s case. All he had to do was look up ‘Seattle Grace - Mercy West Shooting’. He read several articles, some were mirror images, some were polar opposites. Few things remained the same throughout all of them. His father killed 11 people, and injured 7 others; he was after Drs. Richard Webber, Derek Shepherd, and Lexie Grey. The first article where he read his father’s intended targets, he genuinely thought his heart stopped. His eyes lingered on the single word.  _ Grey.  _ He then typed ‘Dr. Lexie Grey’ into the search box. He had to know. The entirety of the first page supplied him with her account on the shooting. Under ‘Parents’, he noticed Thatcher Grey listed as her father. ‘Impossible’ he said internally. He clicked on his name. 

“Ellis Jones marries Thatcher Grey,” he read aloud. It was an old article, from around the 1970s. 

He still refused to believe it. How was Meredith connected to one of those three? He clicked on the first link. She had recently worked on a clinical trial with Derek Shepherd.  _ That’s two out of three. Did they all know each other?  _ They worked on inoperable tumors, and it seemed like he took most of the credit for their one success. 

He backed out of the website and he clicked on the second link. It was another clinical trial with her and Derek Shepherd. Alzheimer’s research. He skimmed through the article, ignoring the medical information, and moved to the bottom. They were blacklisted by the FDA because someone tampered with the trial. He froze when he read who got them blacklisted.  _ Richard Webber _ .  _ How the hell does she know every damn person in that hospital?  _

He then clicked on his name. Webber went through surgical residency with Ellis Grey. After browsing for a bit longer, he saw one final thing that caused him to slam the laptop shut. She was married to Derek. She knew these people his father targeted; she knew them well. One of the doctors was her sister, the other one was her husband, and the last one seemed to be close with her mother, and she had known him her entire life. How was she in the middle of everything? He had enough, and left it alone.

It was almost two years later before he came back to his research, feeling a renewed sense to carry out his father’s last wish. It had now been nearing the three year mark since the shooting. 

When research was getting him nowhere, he hacked into the hospital’s records, and made sure he wouldn’t be traced. He typed ‘Meredith Grey’ into the directory and he was surprised to discover how many times she’d been admitted to the hospital. 

Hospital mandated therapy after code black. Fancy way of saying ‘Bomb! Run!’.  _ She had her hand on the bomb? And she lived to tell the tale? Oh, a man exploded in front of her, that would explain the therapy.  _

He moved on to the next admission. Appendicitis. Not too serious. He scrolled on. 

“She what?!?” he screamed at the computer. He hesitantly read the details. She was on site, working on patients after a ferry boat crashed.  _ How exactly does a ferry boat crash?  _ He paused, and answered his idiotic question with another one.  _ How did the titanic crash? If something exists, it’ll crash.  _ He stopped scolding himself and kept reading. She was knocked into the water after helping a patient. It doesn’t say how she got out of the water, but she was ‘dead’ for over an hour.

His eyes glanced to the next, and his heart filled with dread. The shooting. More hospital mandated therapy. Everyone had to be cleared by a psychiatrist before being allowed back into surgery. There was nothing else on that topic, since she was not actually admitted.

He froze on ‘Plane crash’, and that was the last time he looked at the records. He closed out of everything, not reading a single word about the crash. He knew she was alive, that’s all that mattered. Truly conflicted, there was a war raging in his mind. This is what he’d been looking for, he just didn’t know it until this moment.

Meredith Grey was the missing piece. In more ways than one. She was the connection between the three, and it was clear how much she meant to them. 

After he was called in to identify his father’s body - which felt ridiculous since he was the talk of the city - he vowed to carry out his father’s failed mission. Not because he believed his mother could be saved, but because he wanted to complete his father’s final task. When it was done, he would be done. He would finally disown his father, and move on with his life. But it would prove to be more difficult to walk away, especially from her.

(End of Flashback)

\---

“Before you say something you’ll regret, there is something else you should know.”

“What? What else could there possibly be?” she continued yelling. 

He let her calm down on her own, knowing she couldn’t go anywhere. After a few minutes, she sat back down.

“What?” she managed to say in a half-calm tone, still filled with anger.

He didn’t speak, which was ignition to the flames of an already raging fire. She let her emotions swirl inside her, and hated that she couldn’t let them out. It took her years to finally open up about how she was feeling, and fear is what undid all of that progress. 

He wasn’t as oblivious as she thought, he knew what she was doing. He gave her snippets of his reasons, hoping she would fill in the blanks.

She hated that this man was constantly leaving her in the dark, only revealing things in small amounts. He seemed to know everything, and she only knew what he wanted her to know.

More ignition added to the fire. She used to know someone exactly like this. Someone who had all the power, every second of every day. Someone who only told her what he wanted to know, and at the time, she loved it. She loved the mystique, and the tension build-ups. But now? Now she hated it with every fiber in her being. 

There was a reason he was doing this. He was trying to help her put it together; and she did.

When she looked up again, all the rage, hatred, and hostility melted away. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who commented, it motivates me to write more. As of right now, I'm working on chapter 6...(7 if you want to count the prologue).

Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again and she tried to speak, but nothing came out. 

“Chip,” the old nickname flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. The last time she thought about him was when Sadie showed up, bringing all their memories made in Europe to the surface. 

“Meredith Grey,” he said between chuckles. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that again.”

\--- 

Derek’s worries subsided after his short talk with Meredith. Fears took over instead. Something was off with her, he just couldn’t pinpoint it. He couldn’t leave work and go home just to make sure everything was ok, he had surgeries. So he did the next best thing. Ok, he couldn’t do the next best thing because the next best thing was taking her boards today. He did the second best thing.

Cristina was always a part of their life, whether he liked it or not. He remembered saying in an interview once, “Dr. Yang and my wife sometimes have sleepovers in my bed. With me in it.” 

_ He heard the door open and immediately knew he was about to be thrown out.  _

_ “You up?” Cristina asked, carrying a tray containing two coffees. _

_ “Yes,” Meredith replied. _

_ “No!” Derek intervened. _

_ “Yes,” Meredith said. _

_ He listened to the conversation between the two. _

_ “The wicked witch is dead,” Cristina announced. _

_ “Metaphorically dead, or dead dead?”  _

_ “Who are we talking about?” he asked. _

_ “Hahn,” they replied at the same time. _

_ “Her name is off the surgical board. Her surgeries have been cancelled. I don’t know how or why, but Hahn is gone.” _

_ Ecstasy was rolling off Cristina in waves. _

_ “That’s too bad. She was really talented,” he said, before realizing this didn’t involve him. _

_ “You aren’t talking to me,” he said before stumbling out of bed and downstairs to make coffee.  _

_ He didn’t even make it to the kitchen before he heard the persistent knocking on the door. Through the glass, he could see a woman with long, wavy, blonde hair taking in her surroundings. _

_ “Hi is, uh, Grey home?” the woman asked in an Australian accent. _

_ “Yes,” he replied, only to be shoved away as the woman ran inside.  _

_ “Death!” she yelled, running frantically around the room. “Come on, where are you, Death?” _

_ The blonde-haired woman ran upstairs and practically landed on top of Meredith when she dove onto the bed. _

_ “Death?! Ah!” _

_ “Die! Oh, my god! It’s been-” Meredith said, but was cut off by the woman, Die? _

_ “Forever.” _

_ “Wow”, “You look like-” they said over one another. _

_ “Death!” they said simultaneously before bursting into laughter.  _

_ “Is the guy in the pajamas your boyfriend? ‘Cause if so, then hot.” _

_ “Right?” Meredith agreed. _

_ “Uh, hey! Uh, who are you?” Cristina asked in shock. _

_ “I’m Sadie. Who are you?” _

_ “I’m-I’m-I’m Cristina!” she said before Meredith and Sadie burst out into laughter once more. _

Cristina told him about the conversation that was had upstairs, and they both agreed it was not a pleasant feeling to be kicked out of bed.

He knew if he brought up his concerns to Cristina, she’d jump to the same level of paranoia as him. She would be eager to get away from Owen. Their relationship at the moment was rocky to say the least. He didn’t know too much about it; not as much as Meredith knew anyways. He assumed she knew everything, because they were two different people, but shared one mind.

The little of what he knew was enough, enough to know she would get out of an awkward conversation any time of day. 

Pulling out his phone, he dialed Cristina. It went to voicemail. He didn’t know if she was in or not so he checked the OR board. Of course, she was in surgery. 

Derek still had two surgeries before his shift was over. He had time, but not enough to get on the ferry. He called Meredith again, but she didn’t answer. 

He was frantically going through his contacts list for someone to check on her. He was so enveloped by his phone, he’d run into...

“Mark,” he breathed.

“Derek,” he smiled, but it faded when he saw his best friend’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Meredith. I called her earlier and something was off, and now she isn’t picking up,” he said.

Mark surveyed him for a moment before leading him into a conference room. 

“You know what we talked about last week, right?” he asked.

“I remember.”

“Good. Breathe in,” he said, pausing. “Out.”

“This isn’t helping,” Derek said.

“Meredith is fine, Derek,” he stated.

“You don’t know that.”

“Alright, maybe ‘Fine’ is the wrong word to use, since she’s never actually fine. But she’s okay.”

Derek looked into his eyes, and any sense of betrayal he once felt toward his friend dissipated over time. He trusted him again. But Mark didn’t know she was okay, no one did.

“Derek,” Mark said, trying to get his attention. 

His eyes focused on his friend’s graying hair, and stood up from the chair he didn’t know he was sitting in. He knew his mind was playing tricks on him; forcing him to read into something that isn’t really there. He calmed down, and refused to let himself procrastinate. If he did that, he’d find another way to worry about Meredith, and Zola, and everyone else.

Mark took note when Derek relaxed. He felt guilty for lying to him, since he didn’t actually know if Meredith was okay or not, but it was the only way to clear his friend’s mind. 

A month ago, he would’ve worried with him, since Meredith had a tendency to find herself in bad situations. Derek was getting worked up over everything nowadays, so now, the chances of her in trouble compared to Derek’s amount of worrying practically crushed the probability of yet another one of her near-death experiences. He worried for his friend too, but not the way Derek did. 

He watched as Derek left the conference room and got on the elevator.

Over the past year, Mark had grown closer to the surgeons. It definitely had something to do with the fact that they had been in a plane crash together. It was a surprise to no one when he grew closest to Meredith. The common denominator between them was Lexie. 

He put his phone up to his ear after dialing her number. Voicemail.

“Meredith, It’s Mark. You need to get your ass out of bed and up to the hospital. Derek is going crazy, and frankly, so am I. He’s worried and it's infecting everyone around him. If you can’t get to the hospital, call him back for God’s sake. The Dirty Mistresses club disbanded years ago, so I wouldn’t know what to call us now, but as your friend, I’m sending you this message as a courtesy. ‘Cause If you aren’t here soon, I won’t hesitate to pummel you. I don’t exactly know what with, but I will. I will pummel you.”

A smile crept onto his face as he realized that’s something Lexie would’ve said. He pocketed his phone, and greeted his Rhinoplasty patient. 

\--- 

Meredith honestly couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Chip, who she hadn’t seen in almost fifteen years, was Gary Clark’s son. She vaguely remembered stories of his mother and father, but she didn’t pay enough attention to remember them all these years later. She didn’t think she would need to remember.

He watched in delight as she began putting everything together, and she was frozen. She looked as though she was a computer searching its database for a single thing. He knew it would be a lot to take in. The clock’s hands moved painfully slow as he watched the time pass.

“How the hell are  _ you  _ Gary Clark’s son?”

“Small world, isn’t it?” he had been waiting for that question.

“The man who was jealous of ‘Death and Die’ so much so that he created ‘Chip and Dale?’ The man who tagged along with two undergraduates to backpack across Europe for the fun of it? The man who disappeared while we were in France without so much as a goodbye?”

She inhaled deeply before continuing, “That man is the same person who was pointing a gun at me an hour ago?” 

“You remember more than I thought you would. Does this mean I had more of an impact on you than I initially believed?” he asked, somewhat jokingly.

She had a name, but now it wasn’t one she’d be willing to give up. After all these years, she hadn’t expected to still feel loyalty towards him. ‘Dammit!’ she yelled internally. Of course he’d been waiting to drop the second bomb when she was interrogating him for something to give to the police. 

She realized now how futile her attempt was to get him to open up. For one, she already knew him; two, he had impeccable observation skills. 

Did she really know him? It wasn’t likely. It had been 14 years after all. 

This wasn’t the same man who laughed with her and Sadie in some bar in a podunk town in Italy. This wasn’t the same man who she’d come to call her best friend. And this certainly wasn’t the same man who got her pregnant and ran off before she had the chance to tell him.

_ After Cristina went downstairs, Meredith and Sadie remained in the bed reminiscing about their days in Europe. _

_ “Did you see him again?” Sadie asked. _

_ “No, not since he disappeared that night,” Meredith answered. _

_ “That’s tough. So what’d you do about the..” Sadie asked, gesturing towards her stomach. _

_ “There’s not much I could’ve done. I was young, and I wasn’t ready. It was a closed adoption and I only met them once, but from what I could tell, the parents I chose are wonderful. _

_ “Haven’t you been curious? Don’t you want to at least know her..his? Name?” Sadie pried. _

_ “Of course, but she has a better life than I could’ve given her. Did you know one of my friends had a secret kid too?” Meredith tried to switch subjects, but Sadie didn’t budge. _

_ “Secret kid? Do your friends not know?”  _

_ “No. No one knows, and it’s gonna stay that way. It’s only you, me, and the doctors in the delivery room, plus her parents I guess,” Meredith said. _

_ “Why haven’t you told them?” _

_ “It’s a part of me that I rather they didn’t see.” _

_ “That’s understandable. But they’re gonna find out sooner or later. I’d rather it be sooner. One way or another, the truth always comes out, and when it does, it’ll be when you least expect it.” _

_ Sadie sighed after warning her friend, then switched subjects. _

_ “So, tell me about pajama guy.” _

Chip figured out on his own what she told Clark that day; that she was the eye for an eye. He was here to kill her, and that would be the end of it. 

No.

This was the same man. A part of her would always love him, even if he held a gun to her head. But she wasn’t _ in _ love with him. Derek is the love of her life, Cristina is her soulmate, Zola is her child, and she’d be damned if she didn’t get back to them. 

After all, she now had the upper hand. 


	5. Chapter 4

They both heard a car pull up, and then the key in the front door.

“Mer? Meredith! I passed! I didn’t think I would, but I did. I passed my boards!” a voice echoed throughout the house. 

She dropped her keys and purse on the table, and her eyes landed on Meredith and a man whom she’d never seen before sitting across from her.

“Who’s this?” Chip asked Meredith, both of them standing up.

“My sister,” she answered. After seeing the rage in his eyes (which could only mean he was thinking she was Lexie), she added, “Amelia.”

Meredith looked to her sister and hoped, no prayed, - prayed to whatever God there was - that Lexie would go along with it. 

“You have another sister?” he asked, scanning her face.

“Yes. Derek’s sister,” she told him, before turning to her, feigning her enthusiasm, “I’m so proud of you, Amelia! Your phone will be ringing off the hook for days with fellowship offers.”

If it wasn’t for Chip, Meredith would’ve genuinely felt happy for her.

Lexie watched as Meredith moved a little to the side. Her eyes kept moving to a spot behind her. The brunette finally pinpointed what she was gesturing to, and her heart dropped. 

Meredith was hoping she would get the message and make some excuse to leave; to get out of harm’s way. She knew what she was hoping would never happen. She hoped that Lexie wouldn’t get involved, and just leave. She remembered the last time her sister encountered a gunman, and it wasn’t pretty.

He saw ‘Amelia’ staring at the gun in horror. In an instant, any walls of his that she had knocked down were up again. It was like he was watching tv, but he couldn’t press pause or skip to the next part. He was watching himself from the outside, not being able to intervene in any way, shape, or form. But he could, he just didn’t know it. 

Instinctively, he grabbed the gun off the end table, and pressed it against Meredith’s temple, holding her body against his. It was the best course of action. If he had pointed it at her sister, Meredith would have an opening to attack him. 

She knew his reasons now. One being his father, the other being the past they shared. He was glad, but truthfully, he was stuck. He had driven himself to the edge with no way to go but down. 

No one was supposed to be home. He had been watching her for a long time, and took note of her surgical schedule. Everyone she loved was a surgeon, and he almost laughed at the fact that she saved other lives, but could never save her own. 

\--- 

Miranda Bailey rounded the corner, and as luck would have it, the surgeon she was searching for was leaning against a nurse’s station. She watched in satisfaction as they reprimanded an intern for misdiagnosing a patient, in front of the patient. It seemed only yesterday she was doing the reprimanding. Her five interns were frequent flyers to the rumor mill at Seattle Grace, before it merged with Mercy West. Cutting LVAD wires, getting run down by buses, falling to the mercy of cancer, drowning, being impaled by an icicle. Anything you can think of, they did or went through it. 

To this day, she’s surprised even three remain. Stevens bailed, leaving Karev with divorce papers and an insane amount of debt. O’Malley died the day he was going to leave for the army. ‘Damn, fool’, she thought as she recalled the memory. Honestly, they should have their own TV show. People would trip over each other to watch the lives that are (for the most part), still being lived. 

She realized she’d been leaning against a patient’s window a little too long as the patient gave her rude looks, and said something unworthy of being repeated. She scoffed inwardly at the patient before she went to approach the surgeon, who was no longer there. It took but a second to realize a patient of Yang’s was coding, and decided it was best to bring the matter up later. 

Instead, she went to Callie Torres, who assumed Yang’s spot at the station. She was going to find Callie next, but the surgeon came to her. Her luck was excellent today. ‘Don’t jinx it,’ she instructed herself.

“Torres,” she said, approaching with a smile. 

“Bailey!” Callie greeted Miranda, all too eagerly.

“I wanted to talk to you about a patient of mine, maybe get a consult?” 

Callie nodded, wanting her to continue.

“I had the patient scheduled for an Appendectomy next week, but he took an unfortunate tumble down the stairs and he has a closed fracture in his left leg, but I would like to make sure there’s nothing more going on there.”

“Is the patient a kid?” Callie asked bluntly.

Bailey looked taken aback, but still nodded.

“What do you mean?” she asked, struggling to maintain her professional composure.

“When it comes to your younger patients, you get a little paranoid and start to wonder if they have any secret tumors,” Callie half-joked.

She was about to protest, but it was the truth. The children are fun to work with, but it is heartbreaking when you lose one. There have been numerous times where she got too involved and ended up choosing general, where she wouldn’t face the heartbreak as often. Of course, there were other factors, but that was definitely a big one.

“Speaking of younger patients, when is your wife planning on coming back?”

Callie winced. She knew Arizona was a sensitive subject.

“Soon,” she answered vaguely.

After the surgeons were rescued four days after the plane had crashed, Arizona fell into a similar state as Cristina. She didn’t respond to anyone, and stared blankly at random spots in the room. After two months of silence, she snapped. It began with quiet ramblings of what she encountered, which slowly built up to intense hallucinations and began throwing objects at the ‘Wolves’. It took weeks for the hallucinations to subside, and she refused to elaborate on what she let slip during her delusions. She began seeing a psychiatrist in attempts to get her to open up, and it made Arizona only close herself off more, and became angry at every face she saw. When it became clear she wasn’t going to get better, Callie admitted her to inpatient psych. It was involuntary of course, but Arizona quickly realized she wasn’t going to get the help she needed from her wife or friends. So she made an effort. Slowly but surely, she became Arizona again. The savior of the tiny humans, who rolled through the halls of the hospital on heely’s, was making her comeback. She still had a little ways to go, but she’d already improved leaps and bounds which was satisfactory enough for Callie. 

Miranda surveyed her friend for a few moments before heading off to a patient, with Callie in tow. Her mind seemed to be in some place else as she was following Bailey to the Pediatric wing of the hospital.

\--- 

Meredith had a vague feeling of what would happen. She knew he would try to get them away from her sister. She knew he’d take her somewhere other than here, and he wouldn’t hurt her, but it would be a lost cause if she didn’t tell her Lexie his name.

“Damian,” she said.

“I really wish you hadn’t said that, Meredith.”

With the gun still pressing against Meredith’s head, he slowly started to back up when the younger woman lunged forward. 

The moments after that were a blur. He threw Meredith aside, and she tumbled to the ground as he approached her sister. She looked over and saw Lexie on the floor. Maybe he knocked her out with the butt of his gun, maybe he killed her, she had no idea. 

Thinking the worst, she was already sobbing when she felt him pulling her off the floor, and tugging her backwards. Seconds later, the ear-splitting sound of glass raining down filled the room. He had broken one of the larger windows of her house. It was so large, it was practically a wall, with a wooden beam in the middle for support.

The glass rained down, and she tried to shield herself. It mostly worked excluding the few pieces that were embedded into her side. The pain was similar to that of the plane crash, when she pulled a shard of metal out of her leg. 

She felt the ground change under her feet, and noticed she was in a car. She watched as the house grew smaller and smaller, until it was no longer a speck in the distance. 

Turning around, she regained her focus on her surroundings. He had already driven onto the highway, going as fast as he could without going over the speed limit. She could tell he wanted to go faster, but he also didn’t want to get caught. 

“You’re bleeding,” she said, taking in the large gash on his right arm.

“Oh.” was all he said.

As soon as the adrenaline wore off, he would be in a world of pain. She looked down and noticed her blood was coating the seat. There were at least three pieces of glass protruding from the right side of her body. 

She wasn’t coughing up blood, or having issues breathing, so she concluded that nothing vital had been nicked. The glass shards weren’t that deep, so she pulled them out and set them above the dashboard, blood dripping from the fragments. He hadn’t stopped her, so she assumed it was alright to look through the glove department for something to stop the bleeding. Her luck was always the worst and the best at the same time. She pulled out a couple of tissues and put them randomly on her side, unsure of where the actual wounds were. She found a resistance band used for strengthening muscles and wrapped it around her side. 

After packing her wound, she looked out at the road. Her chances of being found were growing slim. She wasn’t home anymore, and Derek wouldn’t find her. He’d find a broken window, and an unconscious sister, but not her. 

She refused to believe Lexie was dead. So, until it was proven otherwise, she remained alive in her mind. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that yet another cruel twist of fate befell her. 

She wished she would have revealed his last name too. ‘Damian Clark’. God, that would never sit well with her again, not since learning his relationship to Gary Clark. 

His name would make its way to the police, and someone will connect the dots sooner or later. 

She preferred sooner.

\--- 

After his Rhinoplasty, Mark was ordering a resident to check his post-ops when Derek strolled up beside him. Mark handed the resident his clipboard and walked away, with his friend on his tail. 

“Thanks,” Derek said.

“For what?”

“For earlier. It’s maddening how often I freak out.”

“It’s no big deal. Honestly, if you weren’t freaking out about everything, I would be concerned,” Mark joked.

Just then, his pager went off and Mark’s face darkened.

“What is it?” Derek questioned.

“Nothing. I got to go, see you later,” he yelled, already walking off. He was unsure whether to worry Derek, since he’d already been concerned about Meredith. So, he left before he had to make a choice.

“Sir, I’m going to need you to step back,” an officer said, standing between Mark and a curtain.

“Excuse me, I was paged here. Let me through.”

He tried to get past him, but the officer stood his ground.

“He’s fine,” came a feeble voice from behind the curtain.

The officer stepped aside, and Mark threw the curtain to his right, barely registering the fact that he’d hit the officer unintentionally with the fabric.

“Oh my god, what happened?” he asked, immediately noticing blood running from her forehead to her collarbone, some soaked into her shirt.

“I-I went home after I found out, an-and she..and there was, and he-” she was hyperventilating.

“Calm down. Breathe,” he paused, and continued when her breaths slowed. “Try again.”

“I went home to tell her I passed my boards, and I-” she was interrupted by Mark.

“You passed?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’m so proud of you Lex!”

When Lexie thought she was dying, she began telling Meredith everything she wanted to do in life. After she died - but then resuscitated by Cristina - she began to check off every item on her list. Starting with confessing what everyone already knew: her feelings for Mark Sloan. 

“I was too, and I wanted to celebrate with her. But when I got home, there was a man who I’d never seen before today sitting on our couch,” she said.

Mark’s eyebrows raised, and he felt uneasy.

“The man had a gun, Mark.” she said after a long pause.

“Did Meredith know him?” he asked immediately.

“I couldn’t tell. But...she told me his name.”

“What is it?” he pressed, not liking the direction this was heading towards.

“She barely got his name out before all hell broke loose. That’s how I got this,” she gestured towards her forehead.

“When I woke up, they were gone, and the window was smashed.”

She paused, and it would have been silent if not for the chaotic E.R past the curtain which kept them in their bubble.

“He got away, Mark. If only I had known..” Lexie trailed off.

“No. Don’t think like that. We’ll get her back.” he almost added ‘I promise’, but he knew there was no definitive way he could live up to that. 

She then began to sob and he got on the bed and let her cry into his arms. 

\--- 

After Bailey rescheduled her patient’s Appendectomy, her pager went off. 

She took it out and her eyes widened when she read the short message.


	6. Chapter 5

“Do you know where you’re going?” Meredith dared to ask.

“Yes,” he replied coolly, entirely focused on not going over the speed limit.

Meredith was barely keeping herself together. What she’d learned that day was still registering. She still has yet to tell him there is a teenager somewhere in the world wearing his face, but that was the least of her concerns. She was fine on the highway, but then he turned onto a backroad, covered by trees, and less cars passing by. He was unpredictable, that much she knew. 

_ “Hey,” a voice said, startling her.  _

_ “Hi,” she replied. _

_ “You look cozy,” the voice continued, taking in how she was slumped over on the bar, half-asleep. _

_ “You bet I am,” she said, sitting up. _

_ She motioned for the bartender to give her a shot of tequila, but the voice cut in. _

_ “I think you’ve had enough.” _

_ “Why does my alcohol tolerance concern you?”  _

_ “No need to get snappy. Just looking out for a stranger’s well-being,” he smiled. _

_ “How thoughtful,” she said, voice flooded with sarcasm. _

_ The bartender slid her a shot of tequila. _

_ “I’m sure you were getting a drink before you met me. Here,” she said, offering her drink to him. _

_ He gratefully accepted, and threw it back before gently slamming the glass on the bar. Her green eyes had a certain sparkle in them that made it incredibly difficult to look away. _

_ Spontaneously, she leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips.  _

_ When she pulled back, she held out a hand. “Meredith.”  _

_ “Damian,” he said, interlocking his fingers with hers. _

_ “Who’s this hunky fella?” a voice interrupted. _

_ “This is-” she gulped, realizing her words were barely audible. “This is Damian.” _

_ “And you are?” he asked the blonde-haired woman. _

_ “Sadie,” she answered. _

_ She then turned to Meredith, “We have to go if we want to make the bus to Venice.” _

_ “Alright, alright,” Meredith said. _

_ She then turned her gaze toward Damian, “The Adventures of ‘Death and Die’ continue.” _

_ “Death and Die?” _

_ “Yeah. The ending of our names are pretty bleak, so why not?” _

_ “That’s kind of cool,” he said, then proceeded to shove his face full of peanuts. _

_ Meredith couldn’t help but laugh.  _

_ “What?” he asked innocently. _

_ “God, you look like a chipmunk!” _

_ “Do not!” he protested, then he raised his eyebrows. “Although that gives me an idea.” _

_ She then raised her eyebrows too, oblivious to Sadie, who was mocking Meredith. _

_ “And what idea is that?” she asked. _

_ “Not gonna lie. I’m a little jealous of the ‘Death and Die’ thing you got going on here. So why don’t we have a thing?”  _

_ After a pause, he realized she thought he was trying to pick her up, though she didn’t look against it. _

_ “How about Chip and Dale?” _

_ “Why?” Meredith asked. _

_ “You called me a chipmunk!” he exclaimed, feigning offense. _

_ “I suppose I did,” she replied, giggling. _

_ “It’ll be a reminder of our first meeting.” _

_ “There’ll be more?” _

_ “Of course! I wouldn’t expect less since you both are now my traveling buddies.” _

_ Sadie and Meredith looked at each other nervously, wondering how he knew how they were tourists. Their expressions changed to mischievous smiles. _

_ “Ok, well if me and Sadie have a thing, and me and you have a thing...then you and Sadie need a thing,” Meredith said through her smile. _

_ “How about..Dame and Sade?” Damian suggested, which only resulted in playful, disgusted looks from the two young women. The brainstorming went on, and their laughter filled the bar.  _

“You know, we never did come up with a name for you and Sadie,” Meredith said unexpectedly.

She certainly hadn’t expected to say anything, and apparently, neither did he.

“It is a shame..” he said.

\--- 

When she got to the E.R. the person who paged her was nowhere to be seen.

Bailey heard distinct crying and like she’d recently told her former intern,

_ “You and I are genetically predisposed to respond to crying babies.” _

Even if it wasn’t a baby or a child crying, she still felt the need to comfort them. She approached one of the beds in the E.R, and threw the curtain aside.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Ba-” the words fell in her throat.

Her eyes flitted to Mark, who was letting Lexie cry into him, and his scrubs were darker from her tears. 

“What happened?” she asked after noticing the dried blood on Lexie’s head.

Mark didn’t know how to answer. He felt like he didn’t have the whole story. It didn’t seem like he would get it for a while, as Lexie was a hysterical mess. He was glad she didn’t notice as he got off the bed. He led Bailey to a quiet room, away from the machines, the people, and the noise.

“Sloan, what’s going on?” she asked hesitantly.

“It’s Grey.” 

“Well, I can see that. What  _ happened _ to her?”

“Not that Grey. Well yes, that Grey. But not that Grey,” Sloan rambled. He has really been taking after Lexie with that.

“Sloan!” she took his shoulders and shook them, getting him to focus.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t be sorry, tell me what’s going on.”

“LexiefoundMeredithwithaguywhohadagunandnowshe’smissing,” he said in one breath.

She rolled her eyes. She didn’t have time for this. Her glare was enough to get him to try again.

“Lexie found Meredith with a guy who had a gun and now she’s missing,” he said slowly, emphasizing every word.

She felt her mouth fall open. Had she heard that right?  _ Gun. Meredith. Missing. _

“Do we have any idea who he is? What state was Meredith in when she found them?” the questions started pouring out of her mouth.

“Lexie told me Meredith said his name, which he didn’t seem too happy about. That’s how she got the head lac. As for Meredith, I have no clue.”

“What is his name?” Miranda asked, hoping she would recognize it.

“Lexie hasn’t told me yet.”

“It’s not like we have time!” she shouted. “I get that Lexie’s upset, but if we want to find Meredith, we have to move now.”

Mark looked down, and then exited the room. Bailey followed him as they went back to the E.R.

“Lexie,” Mark said gently. “Hey.”

She looked up. Her cheeks were a light pink, tear stains covering her face, and blood still on the left side. 

“I know it’s hard, but we need to know his name,” Mark said soothingly while stroking her hair.

“D-Damian. His name is Damian,” Lexie said.

Both Miranda and Mark knew at least a dozen Damians, and none of them seem like a gun-wielding type of guy.

Questions flooded their brains, but one outranked the rest. ‘Who the hell is Damian, and why does he want to hurt Meredith Grey?’

\---  ****

“Meredith,” he said.

She didn’t respond verbally, just looked in his direction. Their eyes locked like they did that first night many years ago. 

He was driving down a long road that seemed to never end, and he suddenly turned into a driveway that could’ve been a sidewalk. She saw a house. A normal house. Not some murder cabin in the woods that had become the stereotypical thing to think when you hear the word, ‘Abduction’. It was a single story home, with (what she could guess), three or four acres of land.

It didn’t feel like she'd just been unwillingly taken from her home. She was still petrified of what he could do, but it didn’t feel like she’d been abducted. That’s when it hit her. She’s been here before.

_ “Damian,” Sadie said. “What’s wrong?” _

_ He looked up from his phone. _

_ “It’s my mom. I was talking to her, and there was a loud crash, and now…” he waved the phone, which was silent. _

_ Sadie and Meredith exchanged worried glances. _

_ “Do you need to go home? Make sure she’s ok?” Meredith asked, and only received a slight nod. _

_ “Ok. Well..we’ll come with you!” Sadie said.  _

_ “I know we’ve only known each other for a week, but if it's something with your mom, we’ll tag along with you,” Meredith added. _

_ They stumbled out of the historic building they were in, piled into a cab, and made their way to the airport. _

_ A day later they stood in front of his childhood home. When they walked in, the noise immediately awakened his father, who was asleep on the couch. _

_ “Damian?” his father asked sleepily. _

_ “Hi dad.” _

_ “What are you doing home? Aren’t you supposed to be in Europe?” he asked, then noticed the two women next to his son. “And I see you’ve brought friends.” _

_ “Is Mom ok?” Damian asked, ignoring his father’s questions. _

_ “Yes she’s ok, why wouldn’t she be?” his father said, suddenly nervous. _

_ “Dad…” _

_ “Ok. It’s time you knew,” the older man conceded. _

_ Meredith and Sadie looked at each other, unsure if they should stay and listen to what they were sure was going to be a personal story.  _

_ Damian noticed the looks and said, “You should um...you should hear it too I guess.” _

_ The two women didn’t sit on the couch with Damian and his father. They decided to let them have their moment, but stay out of the way and listen as they were offered. _

_ “We’ve been keeping this from you for a while now. We agreed not to tell you because you would worry,” he sighed and continued, “She doesn’t want me to see her like this, that’s why I’m on the couch. She didn’t want me to see the effects of chemo.” _

_ “Chemo? She has cancer?!?” Damian half-shouted, remembering his mother was asleep in the room next to them. _

_ Ignoring his son’s outburst, his father moved on, “She had her last treatment a few days ago. She exerted herself and collapsed while talking to you.” _

_ “Why was that her last treatment?” Damian cried. “Is it not working?” _

_ “No, no, no. They did tests between treatments, and each timed the tumor shrunk. We’ll get the final results soon,” he quickly added to calm his son. _

_ “I can’t wait until ‘soon’ comes, whenever that is,” he pulled his head out of his hands. “You should’ve told me.” _

_ “Then you’d have been waiting months.” _

_ “When you were supposed to be worried about cancer, you worried about me?” he laughed half-heartedly. _

_ “Keeping it a secret from you gave your mother a distraction,”  _

_ “So,” his father switched subjects, “Who are your friends?” _

_ “This is Sadie, and that’s Meredith,” Damian pointed to the women awkwardly leaning against a wall. _

_ “Nice to meet you too, sir,” Sadie said. _

_ “Please, call me Gary,” he smiled.  _

She stared intensely at the house, like it would grow two legs and kill her at any given moment. This was his mother’s house, which meant this was his father’s house. She couldn’t step foot inside a killer’s home. 

He noticed her tense up, and rightfully so. This was after all, his family home. When he was planning, he made sure there were no photos of his father, because he had no idea how she might react upon seeing his face. At first, he planned to kill her on the spot, but then he learned who she was and he knew he couldn’t kill her. 

The engine died down, and the only sounds they heard were crickets chirping in the woods.

\--- 

It wasn’t long after Miranda paged her when Yang came running to the E.R.

She could tell from Bailey and Mark’s expressions; and a sobbing, injured Lexie, that it was Meredith. It was always Meredith.

“What happened?” Cristina asked Bailey, since Mark was busy consoling his  fiancée .

Bailey grabbed her wrist and she was led away from the pair and into an empty hallway, save for the few nurses and residents walking by.

Instead of explaining or elaborating, Bailey asked, “Do you know anyone named Damian?”

“Uh-I..No!” Cristina racked her memories for anyone named Damian. Nothing. How was this man relevant to Meredith? 

She heard Bailey mutter something, and watched as the surgeon’s tough exterior crumbled around her. Cristina knew this woman had a soft side, but she rarely showed it at work. Something was seriously wrong.

“Bailey. What. Happened,” Cristina tried again.

They locked eyes and she was about to answer, when the double doors flew wide open, and in walked a fuming Derek.

“How could you not tell me?” he yelled at Bailey.

“Tell you what?” Cristina asked, upset that she still had no clue what happened. Derek clearly knew, yet she was in the dark. 

“You were in surgery. It’s protocol,” Miranda answered simply. Her composure was regained the second Derek walked up to them.

“She’s my  _ wife! _ ” Derek exclaimed.

“We all know that, Shepherd. How could we not?” 

Derek tried to calm down, knowing shouting wouldn’t help.

“What happened?” Cristina asked a third time, jumping at the first moment of silence.

Derek looked at her with broken eyes. He had the same look the day Meredith drowned. 

“She’s been kidnapped.” someone said, although she didn’t know who. She was already beginning to tune everything out. Bailey and Derek’s bickering became muffled, as did Webber’s voice when he came in. Everyone in the E.R. could hear the fighting, and he became the advocate to investigate the commotion.


	7. Chapter 6

“Dr. Alexandra Grey?” a male voice asked from behind Mark, who was suturing Lexie’s forehead.

He whipped his head toward the voice, and eyed the man skeptically. In Mark’s eyes, everyone was suspicious now. He lowered his guard when he saw that the man was in uniform.

“Yes?” Lexie asked.

“I’d like to talk to you about working with a sketch artist,” the officer said, getting straight to the point.

“Su-sure,” Lexie stuttered, still in minor shock from recent events. 

“You’ll just need to describe - in depth if you can - his facial features so we can hopefully ID the man.”

“You don’t have to, Lex,” Mark said in a low voice so only she could hear.

“If it’ll help with the investigation, I have to,” she spoke normally.

Mark finished his sutures. Lexie hopped off the bed and followed the officer to a relatively empty room. A woman was sitting in a chair with a pad on the table, and twirling a pen in her fingers.

Lexie entered the room, and the officer didn’t come with her. She knew she was safe, but felt less so without the protective shield the officer provided.

“Hello. I’m Vanessa Hyland,” the woman said, holding out a hand.

They shook hands, and the woman motioned for Lexie to sit down. She slid into one of the chairs across from the sketch artist.

Lexie didn’t know how to describe faces, and was furious she couldn’t print a picture of him straight from her brain. She was a surgeon about to enter her fellowship, why should she know how to describe faces? 

The only thing she was happy about was the fact that it was her of all people. This was the best use her photographic memory could have offered. 

Not knowing where to begin, Lexie started with the most defining features.

“He uh- he had two scars. One from his right ear running three or four inches and ending just above his collarbone. The other was from the middle of his hairline and ended in his left eyebrow. The first scar looked recent, but faded. The second looked older, maybe it was sutured poorly.”

She paused, forcing his face to remain present in her mind.

“His eyes were blue and narrow. He had pale, pale skin. His face. I guess his face was diamond-shaped? And his lips were quite thin.” The woman was using no colors, and her cheeks flushed when that realization hit her.

Lexie looked at Vanessa hoping to make eye contact, but she was concentrated on her sketch. Surprisingly, a face was already beginning to form.

“His cheeks were more sharp,” she said after looking at the image.

The woman adjusted the lines before drawing the chin. Better, but not quite. The woman had already drawn the eyes, which seemed to be spot on. 

“His hair fell just below his ears, and it was uh-,” she paused, failing to find a word.

“Tousled. His hair was tousled and blonde. I’m not sure if clothes matter, but I’ll throw that out there too. He wore a heavy brown leather jacket, and jeans. His shoes were polished so maybe...I don’t know much about shoes, but maybe he’s wealthy,” Lexie rambled.

After a few minutes, the woman slid the pad in her direction. She stared at the man on the paper. The face shape was a little bit off, and so was the nose, which she hadn’t described. The eyes, the mouth, and hair seemed spot on. He felt familiar in a way, but couldn’t place the reason as to why.

“That’s him,” Lexie said abruptly, and left the room to find Mark, who seemed to be the only one who could comfort her.

\--- 

When Richard walked into the hallway, Miranda and Derek were fighting, but he had no idea why.  “Are you aware the entire E.R. can hear you?” Richard asked.

They looked at each other, and Richard turned his gaze to Cristina, who had a far off look in her eyes.

“Yang?”

No response. Bailey and Shepherd stopped fighting and looked at her too.

“Yang?” he asked again.

She didn’t respond and walked out of the hallway, and out of the hospital. The sun was setting, but it’s low rays shone on her face. After collecting herself, she turned and walked into Seattle Grace Mercy Death. She did the right thing, moving to Minnesota. Why did she come back? Oh right, the one friend she made had a heart attack and died in front of her. Moving away felt right at the time, but her family was here. Owen, Meredith, and even Alex were all here. Now Meredith was in danger, yet again.

When she went back inside, she didn’t return to the hallway occupied by the three surgeons. Instead, she set off to find Alex. He understood how she felt. Cristina would never admit it, but they were fairly similar when it came to Meredith.

\--- 

Alex couldn’t help but stare at her. He watched her laugh and joke around with her fellow interns. She was tough to crack, but she would eventually.

He sighed and turned around, greeted by a smiley intern. Who was it? Uh, Mallory? Georgia? Leah? He had absolutely no clue, but the intern's eyes moved eagerly from him to a nearby on-call room. Alright, fine. 

Ten minutes later he laid on the cot, and stared at the ceiling. Why was he doing this? Why not try and settle down? The crazy ladies, that’s why. He looked at the woman lying next to him, and was revolted by his own behavior as of late. Now was the time. He would stop with the random hook-ups, and finally start a relationship. Alex was about to get up, when the door swung wide open and Cristina’s voice filled the room.

“Alex,” she breathed. 

The intern next to him scrambled to get her scrub top on and quickly left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving the two surgeons alone.

“What is it, Yang?” he asked, rather rudely. 

She didn’t answer him. Cristina walked over and sat on the cot diagonally from his. She sighed deeply, and dropped her head into her hands. 

Alex noticed Cristina’s unusual action and knew something was up. He walked over and sat awkwardly next to her. He raised his hand to rub her back, but put it back down. After all these years, he still had no clue how to comfort his friend. He didn’t usually have to, since she never showed her emotions. Meredith was the person Cristina ran to with her problems.

His thoughts screeched to a halt. Why was she coming to him rather than Meredith? Were they in a fight? Did something happen to Meredith? No, if something happened, Cristina would be crying. Her emotions were a mystery to him, but he knew that if something happened to her  _ person,  _ she would be a wreck.

They sat in silence for what seemed to be an eternity. 

“Are you ok?” he finally asked.

“No, I’m not ok,” she shot up from the bed and started pacing the room. 

“How could I be fine when Meredith is god knows where, with someone who could do god knows what, and only god knows when I’ll see her again!” 

Ok, so it was Meredith. He didn’t know what happened, or what was  _ happening, _ it seemed. 

Alex decided to take on the role of Meredith for Cristina. He got up and grabbed her shoulders to keep her in place, and stared into her eyes.

“Cristina, It’s Mer! She’ll be fine, she always is,” Alex says, not fully convinced of what he’s saying, but tries to hide it.

His words seemed to pull Cristina out of her frantic state, and she started breathing deeply to calm herself down.

“You have no idea what happened, do you?” she asked, searching his eyes for something.

“No. What?” He asked, finally letting fear flood his voice. 

She then did the same thing as Bailey and asked, “Do you know anyone named Damian? A friend of Meredith’s? A friend of yours?”

Cristina could tell Alex was analyzing every memory that could involve this ‘Damian.’ This man was quickly becoming a great mystery. She didn’t know details. All she knew was that Meredith was kidnapped by Damian, and Lexie saw his face. 

Alex shook his head. So the mystery remains just that; a mystery. 

Her pager went off, and a second later, so did his. They both knew it was about Meredith without looking. 

\--- 

A group formed inside the chief’s office. The occupants of the room consisted of Cristina, Alex, Bailey, Derek, Mark, Lexie, April, Jackson, Webber, Callie, and Hunt.

Only a few were in the dark. Owen quickly explained the situation. These people were the close friends and family of Meredith Grey. Surely someone would know who Damian was. When he asked, he received a ‘No’ from every last one of them. 

The sketch artist entered the room, accompanied by two police officers. She held a thick piece of paper in her hand. She found a spot and stood next to Owen in the front of the surgeons.

“Hello. I’m Vanessa Hyland, and I’m a composite artist with the SPD. Though none of you recognize the name, maybe you’ll recognize the face,” she said.

“I worked with Dr. Grey here, and from her confirmation, this sketch of ‘Damian’ is about 90% accurate. Please examine the image carefully and thoroughly,” she handed the paper to the closest surgeon, which was Hunt.

The first person to say something was Alex, who received the paper after Callie.

“I swear, I feel like I know him.”

After it reached Derek, he said the same thing. As did Miranda, Lexie, Cristina, Callie, and Richard.

The sudden sound of a phone ringing startled everyone in the room. 

Cristina had to look at the caller ID twice. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

April noticed the look on her face, and so did Jackson. 

“What is it?”, “Cristina?” They asked over one another.

Thirteen pairs of eyes landed on her, including Hyland’s and the officer’s.

“I…” she said as the phone continued to ring.

“Who is it?” Callie asked.

“It’s Izzie.”


	8. Chapter 7

A/N - When I started writing, I had no idea where I was going to take this. Now I know, and I think we may be nearing an end. Please review and let me know what you think, good or bad! Reviews are my lifeline, and I'm desperate. Pathetic, I know, but it keeps me going! Ok, enough of my babbling. Enjoy the story. :)

* * *

After years of little to no contact, Isobel Stevens was calling _her_ of all people; Cristina Yang.

Noticing her phone was about to send the caller to voicemail, she pressed 'Accept'.

She heard the surgeons erupt into conversation the second she stepped out of the room, no doubt wondering why Izzie was calling.

"Izzie?" Cristina asked.

"Cristina," Izzie's voice rang from the phone.

"Why are you calling? I mean, I'm glad you are, but now couldn't have been a worse time."

"I know," Izzie said.

"What do you mean you know?"

"I've been keeping tabs on the hospital ever since the shooting," Izzie answered.

"Oh, so you _know_ ," Cristina's voice dropped two octaves.

"How long?" Izzie asked.

"What?"

"How long has Meredith been missing?"

Cristina was confused. Then she realized that Izzie was getting the news indirectly, so it was hard to tell what she heard.

"Tell me what you know," Cristina said.

"It's on the news. Meredith was kidnapped. I mean, his face is plastered everywhere. The TV, the SPD, did you know SGMW has a website? Yeah, his face is plastered there too," Izzie rambled.

"I know you're keeping 'tabs' and making sure we're all alive, but why are you calling?"

"I'm calling-" she gulped. "I'm calling because I know him," Izzie finally stated.

The phone slipped out of Cristina's hand, and plummeted to the floor. Had she heard that right? Was there hope? She picked up her phone only to find the screen shattered. It wasn't turning on.

_She didn't want to admit it, but she was jealous. Jealous of Sadie. The woman who she had never heard or seen before that day. She came and left months ago, leaving chaos in her wake._

_Izzie knew Meredith had a past she hadn't known about. That became known when Sadie showed up out of the blue. Since that day, she'd been inclined to learn more. Izzie was convinced there was a secret behind it all. She knew her friend well, and Meredith was a bad liar._

_She had a day off and everyone else was at the hospital. She began to wander aimlessly throughout the house. A little over a year ago, she'd accidentally found a key because she saw it's shadow in a painting, and today is when she found the lock. Something flooded her body that hadn't in a while. Excitement. Adrenaline._

_The key was still taped to the back of a painting where she found it the previous year, and she pulled it off. Izzie knew she shouldn't have, but she did._

_She watched in satisfaction as she put the key in the lock and it opened. What she was unlocking was a medium-sized chest in the bottom of the hall closet._

_Meredith wasn't the sentimental type, so she was shocked to see a photo album among her mother's journals. It stood out from the brown books. The album was newer. Not new, but was definitely added long after the journal's were placed in the chest._

_Izzie knew she should have at least tried to resist looking, but she didn't. She hit the jackpot. The first photos were of Sadie and Meredith in different places in different countries. Some people in the pictures had been perfect strangers to Izzie. That was okay, since she wasn't with Meredith while she backpacked through Europe. Another pang of jealousy hit her when she realized Sadie shared a bond with Meredith that she never would._

_A picture of Meredith and Sadie along with a man standing in front of the Colosseum in Rome caught her eye. As she kept flipping through the pages, the man was in almost every photo. Who was he? The man disappeared from the photos somewhere after the Louvre in France._

_She frowned as she reached the end. Right before she closed the book, she noticed something inside the pocket on the back cover. It was small, dark, and hard to see. But it was there. A little dot that would grow to be a baby. Tucked deep into the pocket, there was a smaller picture. It was the size of a yearbook photo. Izzie's fingers struggled to grasp the picture, but she finally managed to get it out of the pocket._

_Meredith was in a hospital bed holding a baby, smiling. It was one of the biggest and brightest smiles she had ever seen on her friend's face._

_Having just looked through the album, it was fairly simple to connect the dots. The man in the photos was the father of that baby._

_What happened to the baby? Did she lose her child in a custody battle? Did her child die, is that why she's dark and twisty? Did she give the baby up for adoption?_

_Izzie was tempted to corner Meredith until she got the truth out of her, but resisted. She would let her keep her secret, because she understood. Izzie had a kid of her own that she had only revealed to her friends recently._

_She put the album back in the chest, and locked it. The painting she removed from her friend's bedroom wall was upside down on the bed. She taped the key back to it's hiding spot and went to hang the canvas up once more._

_"Iz?"_

_Izzie spun around and saw Meredith, whose face was in sheer terror and shock._

_"Heyy, Mer!" she exclaimed, trying but failing to act innocent._

_"I see you went through my things," she said, hoping Izzie hadn't seen anything._

_"Yes," she said in a regretful tone. "Yes, I did."_

_Her eyes cast downward, and Meredith walked up to her friend. She wasn't angry, and she had no idea why._

_"Don't you have questions?" Meredith asked, avoiding the enormous elephant in the room._

_"I do, but I understand."_

_The pair sat on the bed and Izzie stared at the closet just outside Meredith's room. How weird that her past sat just a little ways away. Hidden in plain sight. She was in such a daze that she didn't notice Meredith get up. Izzie was only taken out of her state when her friend spoke._

_"I don't really have anyone else to talk about this with."_

_She looked at her, and then the book in her hands._

_"It's simple, not much of a story. I fell in love with a stranger, and then had a baby. A nice, young, but mature couple adopted her and that's that. Any questions?" she said, quickly trying to get away from the sensitive subject._

_"Does he know?"_

_"No."_

_While they were speaking, Meredith was looking through the pictures. The pages were perfect; no creases, no smudges, no scratches. Izzie knew that she hadn't looked through the photo album in what could possibly be years._

_They didn't talk about it after that moment. Meredith put the album back in it's place and locked the chest. Locking away her past, running away from the memories that brought her great joy, and great pain._

The door slammed against the wall when Cristina re-entered the room filled with worried surgeons. The impact of the door on the wall caused all conversations to halt.

"What did she say? Why did she call?" were the two main questions everyone asked her.

She held her hand up to get them to stop talking.

"Izzie has been checking up on all of us since the shooting, and she heard."

Some of their faces turned to shock. It felt weird to know someone was watching over them in a way.

"His face is already all over the news and…" she paused, inhaling deeply.

"Cristina? Cristina, what is it?" Owen asked.

"Izzie recognized him."

The room's volume increased as everyone began pouring their questions out. This was starting to get annoying.

"I need to borrow someone's phone," Cristina said to them, specifically Alex.

Picking up what she was laying down, Alex pulled out his phone and handed it to Cristina, who immediately dialed Izzie.

"Cristina?"

"How'd you know it was me?"

"The line went dead, and I had a feeling this conversation wasn't over," Izzie said, her voice temporarily filled with her usual Izzie...ness.

"I'm going to put you on speaker so I won't have to relay whatever you say to the group," Cristina declared.

"Okay." Izzie's voice magnified in the middle of the word.

"Tell them what you told me," Cristina instructed.

"I've been keeping tabs on you all since the shooting, and I recognized the man who kidnapped Meredith."

Most of them were impatient, as Cristina already told them that part. They heard Izzie sigh through the phone.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why it's me who recognized him. I wasn't supposed to know he exists, but I do," she paused.

They were sitting down at this point, leaning toward the phone that was sitting in the middle of the table.

"It was after Sadie showed up."

"Sadie? That was years ago." Bailey said.

April and Jackson never met her, but they heard the stories of the crazed interns cutting open other interns. Sadie was apparently the instigator.

"I'm not proud of what I did, but I snooped. This woman showed up and Meredith never mentioned her before, so I was curious to say the least. I found a key behind a painting I don't even know when, and then I found the lock that it went with. The locked chest in the hall closet."

Several of them wondered at one point or another what was in that chest, since most of them used to live in that house.

"There were more of Ellis' journals, but there was also a photo album. We all know she isn't sentimental, and I just couldn't help myself. There were only photos from her time in Europe. The first few were of her and Sadie. Then, he was there. He was there for the bulk of it, and then he was just...gone."

Several glances were shared, knowing Meredith and Damian's relationship at last.

Izzie hesitated, completely unsure whether to tell them about Meredith's child or not.

"Was he a friend? Or was he something more?" Derek asked hesitantly, but he had to know.

"Something more," Izzie replied sadly.

"Did any of the pictures have a last name?" Bailey asked, eager to find information.

"If they did, I don't remember. It could probably still be there," Izzie suggested.

"Derek, did Meredith bring that chest with her when you moved?" Cristina asked.

"I-No, I don't think so," Derek answered. He didn't know what he was supposed to be feeling. Betrayed? Angry? It wasn't this big secret, it was one of her exes. But she never mentioned him when she talked about her trip to Europe, which made him think there was something he didn't know.

"Izzie, what painting is the key behind?" Lexie asked.

"It's flowers, or..or birds?"

They felt discouraged, and Mark noticed.

"Oh come on. How many paintings could she have?" he asked, trying to lift their spirits.

"Not many," Callie added automatically.

Some of them stood up, ready to fly over to Meredith's old house, but Izzie's voice froze them.

"Guys, um...there's something else."

"What else could there possibly be?" Jackson asked annoyed, but fear was seeping into his voice.

"She uh…" Izzie tried to get the words out. She desperately wanted to rescind the words she'd spoken. It was Meredith's secret to tell, not hers. She thought of ways she could get out of this, but found none.

No one missed her hesitation.

"Stevens," Webber said sternly. "Spit it out."

"I think you should see for yourselves. Find the album and you'll see," Izzie quickly hung up after that. They would find her. Izzie would find Meredith's kid and protect her from Damian Clark. She grabbed her keys and slammed the door behind her. Her garage door barely closed before she was in her car, turning the corner.

The dial tone was the only sound in the room, and they were all ready to hop in a clown car to that house.

Richard and Owen had a conversation with their expressions, and one of them spoke in an authoritative voice.

"I know we all want to go, but there are still lives to be saved. Derek, you'll be distracted, so you can go. Lexie, there's no doubt you'll be distracted too. Cristina, Alex, you have the option to keep working or go with them. Although I have a feeling which one you'll choose," Owen said.

They slowly filed out of the room. Callie, Mark, Jackson, April, Owen, Richard, and Miranda went to their patients, while Alex, Cristina, Derek, Lexie, and Hyland went to Meredith's childhood home.

\---

Meredith eyed the plate skeptically. He said he didn't want to kill her, but there's a high chance he was lying. She had to act like everything was fine; like she trusted him.

So, she forced the noodles down her throat. It was then that she realized she was starving. She hadn't eaten since dinner with Derek just over 24 hours ago.

Surely they figured it out by now. She wanted them to know, but she didn't want them coming after her. They could get hurt, so she would have to get herself out of this.

When they went inside the house an hour or two before, Meredith lost track of the gun. She had no idea where it was, which made the plan she was forming in her head, that much harder to execute.

The world outside was getting darker as the sun got lower.

'Soon' she thought.

\---

The car doors slammed as the five of them got out and approached the house. They were all hoping that one thing would go right for once and it would be simple.

Their eyes scanned the walls in every room and there was only one painting, but it didn't have the key.

This wasn't going to be easy. It never was.

Leadership being her strong suit, Hyland assigned them each a room or two to search. They were about to give up when someone yelled.

"I found it!"

Lexie, Cristina, and Hyland went to the attic, where Alex and Derek were looking. It was cluttered, so it was a two man job.

Alex held the key in the air triumphantly. He got off of his knees and walked past the others to the hall closet where the chest remained.

He looked at his friends before kneeling down and inserted the key into the lock. They all leaned forward, including Hyland, to see the contents inside.

It was just as Izzie said. Brown books upon brown books, with a white photo album in the middle. They felt guilty as they watched Alex flip open the cover

and read aloud.

"Europe 2001"

They flipped through the pages of photos exactly as Izzie did all those years ago. They paused when they first saw Damian. From the pictures, it was easy to figure out their relationship.

Alex went to turn the page when Derek stopped him. He stared at a photo of Meredith with friends. Damian, Sadie...does that man look familiar?

They were standing in front of a one-story home. There was a frail-looking woman wearing a chemo headwrap. The man next to the woman was holding a piece of paper, smiling wide. Damian stood diagonally in front of his mother, and Meredith was sandwiched between him and Sadie. Her arms were slung over each of their shoulders. Derek couldn't read the paper in the man's hands, but he assumed the woman was in remission.

"Is that…" Cristina trailed off, eyes focused on the middle-aged man.

"I think it is," Lexie's voice was laced with fear, as was Cristina's.

"What? Who is it?" Hyland asked, confused.

"Gary Clark," the four surgeons said simultaneously.

Hyland knew who they were talking about. There was no connecting the dots; it was the hospital shooter. Although he looked 20 years younger in the photo. How did the missing surgeon know Gary Clark? In fact, how did the three of them (Sadie, Damian, and Meredith) know this man?

She glanced from the happy photo, to the horrified faces surrounding her.

"I knew he looked familiar," said Alex.

"Who?" Lexie asked.

"Damian. He looked familiar, because he's Gary Clark's son."

"He never mentioned having any kids, and neither did his wife," Derek said in shock.

"It would make sense. Gary's son...finishing what his father didn't. Meredith told him that she was his eye for an eye. She makes a perfect target," Cristina said, realizing her thoughts were being said aloud.

"But her past with him is something no one knows. They could've had a terrible falling out, they could've ended it on good terms, I don't know. If their past is a good one, maybe...maybe he won't hurt her," Derek says grasping at any signs of hope.

"Maybe that'll bring me some comfort," he quietly added.

"No, you won't," Lexie said, being the only one who heard him.

Normally Derek would ask why she said that, or insist he would, but he sat in silence nodding his head.

Someone closed the book, although he didn't know who. They didn't need to dive into Meredith's past any more than they had. They found what they needed.

Hyland insisted that she give the photo album to the police, and she let the husband take pictures on his phone.

\---

The sun was down and she was still scarfing down an endless amount of noodles, with the occasional meatball. It was delicious, and if it was any other situation, she would've appreciated the meal.

She looked up and noticed Damian was no longer in front of her. Meredith thought about bolting for the door, but didn't. He had a car and the keys, and she only had her two legs. While he was gone, she continued formulating an escape plan. However, that plan fell into shambles when he came from a room in the back of the house.

And he wasn't alone.

\---

Hyland drove into the lot, and her car chirped twice when she clicked the button to lock it. Every person she walked passed smiled at her. It was good to have friendly cops surrounding her.

Meredith Grey is loved by many. Vanessa isn't a detective, or an officer of the law, but she knew that this was an unusual case. This woman was kidnapped by a man from her past who no one knew about. It had her wondering why she didn't share her memories, and hopefully this photo album would hold the answers.

"Detective," she said as she entered his office. Surrounded by files and papers, was a man. His hair was styled, his eyes were a piercing blue, which complimented his tan skin. His jacket with his badge on it was draped over the back of his chair. He looked up and smiled when he saw who entered the well-lit room.

"I've found something that I think you'll find very helpful to the case," she said, setting the album atop the papers directly in front of him.

"Grey's?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Of course. In it are photos of her..." she paused, letting the suspense build-up.

"With Damian. I've learned a great deal about him today. I'll fill you in, just as soon as you let me look through it with you."

He smiled, but then sighed in an overdramatic, bad acting kind of way.

"Ok, but...you have to give me something first," he said.

"I know what you want," she said, then leaned forward and kissed him.

"I missed you," he said after she pulled away.

"I missed you too. I've hardly seen you since the wedding," her eyes drifted to the floor, in an attempt to hide her sadness.

"I'll promise we'll do something soon. Now, let's not get distracted. There's a life on the line."

He flipped open the book, and she told him what she knew about the photos. The most informative one proved to be not only the one with Damian's family, but rather the ultrasound and the photo of Meredith in the hospital with her baby.

"Do you think they know?" her husband asked.

"I don't think so. Do you think he knows?" she questioned.

"I have no clue," was his response.

"Bastian," she addressed him by first name, "Do we tell them?"

"That is not our job. Our job is to protect, and this man is a potential threat to this little girl."

"How do you find her?"

"I'm a Detective, Ness. I detect," he said, in a false annoyed tone.

\---

He wasn't alone. Why wasn't he alone?

"Uhm.." her mask she put up cracked, "Damian, who is this?"

He stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. The fear in her eyes was evident.

"Meet Megan."

He looked at her perfect blonde waves, then back at Meredith, and smiled.

"Our daughter."


	9. A/N

Hello my lovely readers!

I'd just like to thank those of you who have kept up with the story.

I'd also like to thank _Bellxs_2154, Akudo, kayalsohini, Jo, kxllhy,_ and _JenxJudy_ for reviewing.

**Alright, these next few chapters are going be pure angst.**

**In the next chapter, there will be a little bonding between Alex and Derek.**

**I've done and will continue to do a great amount of research regarding the Medical world and the Grey's Anatomy timeline. This is to keep everything as accurate as possible, but I can guarantee it won't be perfect.**

**I have an idea for another story to write after this, so let me know if it sounds like something you'd be interested in...**

_The beginning would be around the beginning of season 10. If I write this, I may end up erasing the plane crash storyline since Mark is obviously alive when he should not be._

_Meredith and Mark go missing after leaving the state for a surgery. What happens when they return two years later with nothing but secrets? And why do Addison and Jo seem to know everything that their friends don't?_

**As always, leave a review on what you think, or a suggestion on what could be improved.**

**Stay safe!**

**-Alruix**


	10. Chapter 8

A/N - Just wanted to say that Megan is in no way, shape, or form connected to Owen Hunt or his sister. My brain settled on Megan, and now any other name for this character seems wrong.

* * *

Meredith was speechless. How did he find her?

Finally breaking eye contact with Damian, she took in the sight of the teenager. Her fears melted away, just for a moment.

She was tall for her age, and a little thin. Her blonde waves stopped just above her elbows. The girl's eyes were the same green as hers.

Megan's mind stuck on the words, 'Our daughter'. She knew this man was her birth father, who she used to have fantasies about. He failed to live up to a single one of them. Our. The woman who was no more than ten feet away, was her birth mother. She hadn't failed her, yet.

Her eyes surveyed the woman, and it appeared the woman was surveying her. Megan had no way of reading her. Was she a part of her father's plan in kidnapping her? Or was she too kidnapped?

She felt Damian's hands withdraw from her shoulders. He motioned for her to sit at the table, and she did.

Now, she sat next to the woman who gave birth to her. The woman's scent overpowered the common smell of spaghetti. Lavender. Her mother smelled like lavender, and no matter what happened, that's what she would cling to.

\---

Izzie didn't waste time driving to Seattle. She had been offered jobs around the country, including one as a surgical oncologist in Kansas, but chose to stay in Washington. She couldn't feel luckier.

After Meredith left, Izzie took the photo album back out of the chest and snapped a photo of her favorite pictures, including the one of Meredith, Sadie, and Damian with his father and mother, who was in remission.

A week passed since she learned about what went down in Europe.

Izzie said she would let Meredith keep her secret. But, seeing as how she already knew...she thought it wouldn't hurt to know a little more.

It was surprisingly easy to go through birth records; being a doctor was a huge upside.

Her daughter was beautiful. A miniature Meredith. Megan Isomka. Adopted by Ted and Ashley Isomka. Izzie was surprised at how young the parents were, but wasn't surprised when she learned why Meredith chose them. They were successful at a young age, had a stable home, and Ashley was unable to carry a child. Perfect candidates for a perfect little girl.

Izzie was the one who knew who he was, and she was the one who could save Meredith and her daughter. She knew where they were. One missing kid flyer was enough to figure out that Damian already found her. Now it was a matter of racing against time. He was a ticking time bomb, and could go off any second.

\---

After Hyland left, the four of them returned to the hospital.

Cristina went to find something to cut, and Lexie went to fill in Mark. Alex wasn't letting Derek leave his side. He knew that Derek could...no would do something stupid, and forced him to stay.

Alex had taken it upon himself to update their friends. However, he was still wrapping his brain around it. What were the chances of Meredith dating Gary Clark's son anyways? Less than slim.

"Karev," Bailey said from behind the pair.

He spun around, as did Derek, who looked dejected.

"Any news?" she asked.

"No, but we now have a more in-depth understanding of Damian."

She raised an eyebrow at him, silently nudging him to go on.

"They knew each other in Europe, and she took a detour. Turns out his full name is Damian Clark."

"Clark?" Bailey knew he wouldn't have brought up his last name, if it meant so significance.

Alex nodded.

"Meredith even met Papa Clark when she was in Europe," he added.

After Alex spoke, Derek's face brightened.

"Gary Clark didn't live in Europe. He lived here."

He didn't live in Europe. He lived right here in the U.S, which meant Meredith had to have come back for a short time during her trip. Since his wife, Allison, was admitted to SGMW, it was more than likely he lived close.

The Peds surgeon was confused, but Bailey understood.

"Which means we might have a location," she smiled.

"Someone wanna fill me in?" Alex asked, clearly annoyed.

"We have to have the address of our patients' so if need be, we can send medical bills. The address on 's file may be where they are," Derek explained.

"The chance is slight, Shepherd," Bailey warned. "Don't get your hopes up."

"I'm going to inform the police," the general surgeon declared.

Alex turned around to converse with Derek, only to find him missing.

"Derek?"

His shout got Miranda's attention. She dropped her arm to her side, and pressed the red button, canceling the call.

"Where'd he go?" Bailey asked.

"To do something stupid."

\---

Damian smiled at the two people before him. They were back together at last. In time, they would understand that this was best. They would be a perfect little family. They'd be reluctant at first, but they would understand.

"You kidnapped our daughter?" Meredith asked bluntly, and angrily.

"It's not kidnapping if I'm her father," he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's kidnapping! Taking me, that's fine. Her? That's crossing a line," she had no idea why she was saying this. Two minutes. Two minutes, and she was already finding a way to get Megan out of this. It was no longer about her, and she had to protect her daughter. Daughter. She had a daughter already, but concerning Megan, it felt weird to think.

Ignoring her, he faced Megan, "Eat."

Meredith watched her. She didn't seem too eager, which meant he hadn't starved her. So he wasn't completely insane. At least he had the capability to treat Megan with human decency.

With a full mouth, she broke the silence.

"Bo...bou're by biowogical mober?"

Meredith swallowed her natural instinct to correct her, and waited.

"Could you say that again? I didn't quite understand you."

"You're my biological mother?" she asked with a clear voice.

"I am."

Then came the classic question, which she dreaded.

"Why did you give me up?"

Meredith gulped.

"Well, I..I wasn't ready," shame was building, and she avoided Megan's gaze.

Damian stood up straight from the wall he was leaning on. Megan wasn't the only one who wanted to know the answer. He had left the table a few minutes prior and noticed the pair were talking, and decided to hang back.

"Thank you."

Meredith automatically met Damian's eyes, and he too was surprised.

"My whole life I thought you just didn't want me. But to know that you weren't ready for the responsibility...I'm just glad that you didn't keep me, because you would've ended up resenting me. Damian told me you're a surgeon, and I would've held you back."

The teenager's maturity shocked them both.

"Would you have changed that if you could've?" Damian asked from behind her, and she jumped in her chair.

"No," she answered slowly, unsure of how he would react.

"That would mean I wouldn't have met my parents."

Her heart dropped when she said 'parents'. This was a good thing, so why was she upset?

"They seemed nice. They were, right?" Meredith asked, worried that she may have made the wrong choice.

"Yes, they were the best. Gave me everything I wanted and needed. They went above and beyond for my happiness."

Were? Went? What's with the past tense?

"But, they got into a car crash almost three years ago. My mom died on impact, but my dad was in a coma until last year, after the doctors finally convinced my aunt that he wouldn't wake up."

Her heart broke for Megan. So much loss at such a young age. Meredith thought that maybe Megan wouldn't be screwed up if she wasn't the one to raise her, but it seems that fate finds other ways.

"So you've been staying with your aunt?" she asked curiously, and Megan visibly winced.

"Uh..no. I've been in foster care. My aunt said that every time she looked at me, she was reminded of my father. She was the only other family I had."

"What are your foster parents like?" Meredith asked, immediately wanting to know what she had to go through.

"Most of them have been pretty nice. I had three sets. The first home was okay, but sent me back because of financial issues. The second home was.." she frowned. "The second was okay."

Meredith could tell how badly she wanted to move on, so she left it alone.

"The third home was amazing. They had other children too, and showed me an equal amount of love and attention. They didn't renew their license before the expected date, so I've been staying at a group home while they try to fix the problem," she concluded her story by popping a meatball in her mouth.

She was glad to know that Megan's experience in foster care had been a good one...for the most part. Meredith still had one question burning in her mind: How did Damian get to her?

"How long have they been working on renewing their license?"

"About three months. The court just can't seem to hold a date. Enough about me, I want to know about you," her eyes sparkled.

"Well, I'm married," Damian huffed loudly. "And I have a daughter, Zola."

She was expecting Megan to feel like she was replaced, but instead she smiled.

"It was a tedious process, but we finally got to adopt her. She's two."

"Tell me more about yourself," she was in awe of the woman next to her.

"When I was young, my mother left my father and took us to Boston. I went to Seattle after med school to start my internship. A year later, I found out that

my father remarried and had two other children. Lexie, one of his daughters, started working at the same hospital I was. She found me on day one, and it took me a long time to accept her as my sister."

Meredith and Megan then continued to have a long, and fruitful conversation before Damian decided to cut in. The second they heard his voice, they were pulled back to reality.

He led them to the room where Megan had been staying for over a week. He closed the door and locked it behind him.

It was no surprise to her when the teenager's smile disappeared the moment the door closed. They were the same; putting up a facade to fool Damian.

"Tell me you have a plan. Please tell me you have a plan!" her voice was full of fear.

"Don't worry," Meredith said softly. "I do."

\---

"Karev!" Webber said accusingly.

Bailey had called the police to inform them of what came to light. Alex wasted no time in telling Webber and Hunt what happened. That included the possible location of Meredith, and Derek running off, undoubtedly to his wife.

"What?" Alex asked rhetorically. "The dude's slippery. I turned my back for two seconds, and he got away. What'd you expect me to do, knock him out cold?"

Hunt's face twisted to show that he was actually considering that as an option.

"If the police are headed there, why can't we go too?"

Bailey looked at him like she usually did. It was clear as day: Fool.

"He's armed and dangerous," Owen said. "Under no circumstances are you to go to that house. Is that understood?"

Alex nodded, defeated.

"Why don't you look for Derek," Richard suggested. "He may have come to his senses before he got to that house."

Richard was trying to distract Alex from everything by putting him on a mission. One that would keep him out of harm's way.

\---

"Don't just leave me in the dark! What are we doing?" Megan was still terrified, but tried to hide it.

"Damian always has an emergency exit. He never locks windows or doors. He may have locked the door but…" she trails off, trying the window. It silently slides open. "He's a moron," she finished.

"I was expecting that to be harder. Why didn't I think of that?" Megan asked, embarrassed.

"It's okay. Now go!" Meredith motioned for her to crawl through the window.

\---

Alex found Derek, but he wasn't expecting to.

"Derek," he called out.

Derek stood up straight, abandoned his position against the railing.

"I wanted to get some air," he said.

"You could've told me that instead of disappearing," Alex remarked.

"Then you would've come with me, and I wanted to be alone."

"What if there was news on Meredith?"

"Has there been any news?" he asked, feeling hopeful.

"No," Alex said sadly.

Derek looked up at the darkening sky, then at the water, and sighed.

"She held a bomb. She drowned. She watched me get shot. She got into a plane crash. When does it end?"

"You signed up for a life of constantly being in the waiting room. You knew that. I read your post-it you know. You said no running, 'ever'."

"Don't worry Karev. I'm not going to grow a beard and hide in the woods again. It's just...she always puts everyone else's lives above her own. That scares the crap out of me. I'm so used to being the one to help her through these things, but she didn't even tell me about him. How am I supposed to help her if I have no idea what happened?" Derek was speaking more to the wind than Alex.

"Sure, she focuses on everyone except herself. You and I both know that's never going to change. In the moment you comfort her, then you hound her relentlessly until she tells you. It always worked with my brother," Alex says.

"Thanks Alex. I'm glad Meredith has you as a friend." Derek pats him awkwardly on the back, before heading to his car.

"Where are you going?" Alex shouts.

"To save Meredith."

He sighs, and stands there for a moment, before yelling, "Wait! I'm coming with you." **  
**

\---

"This way!" she quietly instructed the teen.

They tried to keep quiet as they ran through the trees. Branches scratched at their faces, but managed to avoid major injuries. Meredith forced the teen to stay in front of her, so if Damian found them, Megan would have a chance to get away. Much to her dismay, his voice filled the otherwise silent woods. She could tell from his voice that he was closer than she thought. Staying together would surely get them both killed.

Still traipsing through the dark trees, she whispered, "Go."

Meredith's pace slowed.

"What about you?"

"Don't worry about me. Go!" she instructed.

She didn't have time to try and argue with her before her legs carried her away. Megan looked back at her mother and her eyes widened in terror when she

saw Damian gaining on her.

After telling Megan to go, she slowed her pace so the girl would be further away. She locked eyes with her and immediately knew why her eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Meredith!" yelled an irate Damian.

She came to a stop and turned around to face the man who brought Hell to Earth in under a day.

"You really thought you could get away?" he asked, then noticed the missing person.

"Where is she?!" he yelled, back in his irate tone.

When she didn't answer, it only infuriated him further. He pulled the gun out and pointed it at her. 'What am I doing?' a small part of him asked. He ignored the voice and concentrated on the task at hand. He'd let himself be distracted by his past. No more. This isn't you. The voice in his head continued. His arm started shaking as he fought off the voice.

"Damian" she tried to say soothingly, but ended up with a voice filled with fear.

He looked up at her. That was enough for him to lower the gun. Her fear. She was afraid of him, and for the first time in years, he felt in control of himself again.

"I'm so sorry. I-I...I don't know what I'm doing. I don't recognize myself."

He never wanted her to look at him that way, but she was. And she had been since the moment he held the gun to her head in the alleyway a little over twelve hours ago.

"Damian…" she paused. "It's ok." Well, that wasn't what she wanted to say. That was a lie right? It wasn't a lie. Maybe it was if you put it into the context with the gun. But she thought only of his words. It's okay to lose control once in a while. She knew what that felt like. Although she never let herself go so far as to threaten a life.

"You wanted to finish everything, right? You just wanted something to feel finished?"

He scanned her eyes, dreading what he might find, but he didn't find fear.

"You wanted something to be finished, and then you couldn't...because of me."

"It was perfect. You were the connection to them all. But then you had to go and be...you."

He held the gun at his side, barrel facing the cold ground. This wasn't him, and now he finally saw that.

Something inside him was fighting; the monster ripping his brain apart, ready to gain control and wreak havoc and chaos.

Suddenly, the control and relief he'd been feeling was snuffed out, and he became locked in his own mind once again.

It's been too long. He had waited too long, and was going to wait no longer.

The sound that sparked terror in Meredith's chest since the hospital shooting, echoed through the woods.

\---

Izzie pulled up far from the house and checked old photo to make sure she was at the right place. She made sure to stay quiet as she pretended to be a jogger. At night? Who jogs in the dark?

After deciding she would pretend to sell something and mustered enough courage to go to the door, no one answered. She peeked in the windows. The lights were off, and there was no noise.

Izzie perked up. She was hoping that that wasn't what she thought it was. A gunshot. Her ears weren't playing tricks on her. She knew what she heard, and refusing to believe it would waste precious, precious time.

Doing the opposite of what every movie in the industry tells you to do, she ran to the source of the sound.


	11. Chapter 9

A/N - There are a lot of scenes, and aren't very long. But there are so many characters, it's hard not to have many scenes. Anyways, I think it still gets the point across.

A/N 2 - So, fun little story. I've corrupted my sister. She's re-watching Grey's, and somewhere in season 6. She told be that she can't tell which scenes are actually in the show. She also told me it's 'cool' to see where I get my ideas from. Sorry, Lex! But still, thanks for reading the chapter I post each week.

* * *

Izzie stopped herself, and ducked down. She stood up just enough to see through the bushes.

He stood still, as if he was in shock. But he wasn't. He knew he shot her, or at least shot _at_ her. Damian inhaled deeply before walking into the trees to search for Megan.

She jumped when she heard a voice whisper next to her, "Who are you?"

"Megan?"

"How do you know my name?" she asked skeptically.

"I'm Izzie. A friend of Meredith's."

They both looked back to the empty clearing.

"Where is she?" Megan asked with a voice filled with worry.

"I don't know. We have to find her before he does."

The pair walked slowly, making sure to be quiet. The hair on the back of her neck stood, and Megan froze. Izzie was concerned and gave her a questioning look, before she felt it too.

"Thank god," Meredith's voice eased them. "You're safe."

They spun around in time to see Meredith collapse.

"Mer!" Izzie yelled, moving to catch her, but missed by a few inches.

Not a moment passed, when Damian came into full view.

* * *

"Do you remember that photo? The remission one?" Alex asked.

"How could I forget?" Derek responded angrily.

"Maybe the address is to the house in the photo."

"Possibly," Derek said, turning onto a small street covered by trees.

"Whose car is that?" Alex asked.

"I don't know."

They then noticed the license plate, and the interior of the car was exactly what they expected when they thought of her.

"Izzie," Alex managed to say her name with every emotion he felt towards the woman.

* * *

His gun was raised, and determination coursed through his veins. He'd finish this once and for all. For his father.

He stopped short when he watched Meredith collapse. This wasn't what he wanted. Why couldn't things be simple? He shoved his hopes aside and settled the gun on the blonde woman, who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" he asked angrily.

"Someone you shouldn't have messed with."

He laughed. As if _she_ had any power. Who had the gun here? Not her.

"I'll only ask once more. Who. Are. You?"

Izzie ignored his question, "I know your story. You met in Europe, and she had a child she didn't tell you about. The three of you parted. Now here you are

again; A family that's been completely destroyed. By you."

His face flushed with anger. Bingo.

While she was talking, she had motioned for Megan to move behind her. Izzie needed him to waste his bullets, and it was getting darker. Soon he wouldn't be able to see, and if the chamber was empty, he couldn't fire randomly into the darkness. He'd be the most dangerous if he couldn't see.

Izzie had no idea why it made sense to get him to shoot at her, but it did.

"I didn't ruin anything. It may be broken now, but I'll fix it. You'll see."

"No, you won't. You'll be in prison, where you'll never see them again," Izzie said as smugly as she possibly could.

"No!" he yelled in frustration. Out of anger, he shot at a tree. Megan jumped, and Izzie flinched.

He had already shot four times, and there were two more bullets to go.

Damian was still fuming. He clutched his hands to his head, and the barrel was facing the sky. He shot again, unintentionally. One left.

"Your perfect little plan blew up in your face. You didn't have a backup, did you? You thought everything would go your way. Newsflash: you screwed up!"

He sighed.

"I do have a backup plan."

Damian lifted the gun to his head and Izzie turned to cover Megan's eyes. The shot rang out.

What they weren't expecting was to hear him groan in pain afterwards. He wasn't dead.

Izzie looked over and saw the beam of a flashlight dance across the trees. Police.

She glanced at Damian, who was writhing in pain, clutching his stomach.

Her eyes then moved to Meredith. She knelt down and immediately checked for a pulse. Weak, but there.

Meredith's eyes fluttered open.

"Iz-" she started, but was cut off.

"No, you are not dying! You hear me? Not today. You can die in your sleep when you're eighty-nine!"

"I was going to say I'm glad you're here, but...that'll work too," she laughed, and then coughed up blood.

"It'll be okay Mer," Izzie tried to say calmly. She couldn't freak out, it would lead to Meredith and Megan freaking out.

She looked around and noticed a cop was standing between Damian and them.

"Over here!" he yelled to the other officers.

"She needs an ambulance," she said to him. Izzie noticed Meredith had passed out again. She was glad she did, otherwise Meredith would've felt the bullet inside her.

"One's already on the way. What's your name?"

"Izzie Stevens. What's their ETA?"

"About five minutes," he answered.

"What's her name?" the officer nodded his head at the crumpled figure in Izzie's arms.

"Meredith Grey. I think he shot her twice, but I'm not sure."

The officer knelt down and identified her injuries. Izzie was glad that someone took charge, and she finally let herself freak out.

"Have either of you been injured?"

Izzie shook her head, and looked at the distraught teen.

"No," Megan lied.

Five minutes later, Izzie and Megan piled into Meredith's ambulance.

* * *

"Alex," Derek said, frozen in his spot.

"I hear it too."

However, the sound they heard wasn't a gunshot. It was an ambulance siren. They were both silently pleading that it wasn't Meredith inside. They watched the lights zoom past the trees, the sound fading in the distance.

Derek and Alex walked into the woods to search for her. Instead they found the area crawling with police.

"Excuse me gentlemen, you can't be here," a female officer said to them.

"Is she okay? Please tell me if she's alright."

The officer gave him a confused look.

"Meredith Grey was here right? Where is she?" Alex took over for a frantic Derek.

"I'm afraid I can't divulge that information without the proper ID."

"Proper ID? Are you freaking kidding me? He has spent the entire day worrying about his wife, and you won't tell him anything because he hasn't shown 'proper ID?!" Alex was clearly infuriated.

"I'm sorry sir, but it's protocol."

"Can you at least tell us what happened?"

"That, I can say. The three of them were taken to the hospital, but only two had gunshot wounds."

Three? Who was the third person? Did Damian have help?

"What hospital?" Derek asked, running his fingers through his hair like he usually did when he was anxious.

"Show me proper ID first."

"Are you se-" Alex cut himself off, and grabbed Derek by the wrist, leading him away.

"Karev!"

"There's only three hospitals they could have taken them: Seattle Grace Mercy West, Pacific Northwest General, or Seattle Presbyterian," Alex explained.

"I'm willing to bet it's not SGMW. So that leaves two options." he continued.

"What if we go to the wrong hospital, and by the time we get there…"

"Don't think like that McDreamy," Alex instructed firmly.

"McDreamy? I thought you retired that nickname."

"We use it on occasion. Let's go."

They got in their car and drove to Pacific Northwest General, otherwise known as Pac-North.

* * *

Arizona Robbins had enough. It was killing her to stay at home; binge watching the latest shows on Netflix. She was extremely happy when her friend called and asked her for a consult. This was how she'd ease back into work. One patient at a time. Arizona hadn't told Callie about this, because she didn't want to get her wife's hopes up if she wasn't ready.

After her consult, she almost fell down after someone ran into her.

"Sorry," the girl mumbled, trying to pass her.

"You're bleeding," Arizona said after noticing the girl's shoulder.

"I'm fine," she insisted, and failed her attempts to pass the pediatric surgeon, who was blocking her path.

"No, you're not. Come here, I'll fix you up."

After being led to a bed in a quiet room, she asked, "How long is this going to take?"

"Not long. Now, why are you in such a rush?" .

"No reason."

"You don't run around a hospital bleeding for no reason. What happened?" Arizona asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Fine. I accidentally cut myself on a desk when I fell," she lied.

"What's your name?"

"Megan." she answered. "What's yours?"

"Dr. Robbins, but you can call me Arizona," she smiled.

In the silence, Arizona continued to suture the young girl's shoulder. She didn't usually do sutures, but the girl intrigued her.

"She could die," Megan said to herself quietly, not meaning for Arizona's ears to pick up her words.

"Who could die?" she asked, completely concerned.

"My mother," the girl answered sadly.

"What happened?"

"She was shot," she paused. "We were kidnapped, and then he shot her."

"This is a gunshot wound?!" Arizona's voice rose with the question. She knew the wound was not a cut, since it didn't have the usual marks to make it so.

But she wasn't expecting it to be something so serious.

"It's just a graze," she said nonchalantly.

"Why didn't you tell the paramedics? If you told them, you wouldn't be running around the hospital bleeding!"

"I wanted them to focus on her, not me. I only just met her a few hours ago, she can't die."

"She's your mom, how'd you only meet her a few hours ago?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, it sounds like you've got time," Arizona said, finishing the last suture.

"You're a doctor. I'm sure you have better things to do."

"I don't actually," she smiled. "I've been on a leave of absence."

"Well then, why are you here?"

"I'm easing back into it," she smiled.

Arizona was glad that she was the person Megan found. If she were anyone else, they wouldn't have the time to listen to her story. Other patient's and

whatnot.

She noticed the girl's discomfort, and hopped onto the bed in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"I was the product of an affair," she started, breaking a short silence. Arizona was surprised at how blunt she was.

"They knew each other for a short time. It was during a trip around Europe. He left before she had the chance to tell him. She didn't know he was married, and that was why he left. My biological mother was young and couldn't take care of me. I lived with my adoptive parents until they died in a car crash a few years ago. My aunt didn't want to take care of me and I was placed in foster care."

Arizona looked at the young girl. What a terrible hand she'd been dealt.

"He kidnapped me on the way home from a friend's house last week. He didn't kidnap her until today. He tried to make us some sick, twisted family. She still doesn't know that he was married when they were together, and that's why he left. His wife called or something when he was in Europe, and he freaked out."

Megan sighed, and slightly switched the subject.

"We talked, and I just...I don't want to lose her. Even though she didn't raise me, I feel like I've known her forever."

"That's quite a life you've had. I'm sorry that was the way you met your mother. She does seem really nice. What's her name?" Arizona asked.

"Meredith," she smiled. "Meredith Grey."

* * *

The car doors slammed as Alex and Derek got out of the car. They went inside the pathetic excuse for a competing hospital. Pathetic for a hospital in general.

"Excuse me," Alex said to the nurse behind the computer.

The nurse simply looked up, rolled her eyes, then went back to the computer.

"Has Damian Clark or Meredith Grey been brought in?" Derek asked impatiently.

She didn't reply, and this angered them both.

"Excuse me!" Alex said loudly.

The nurse sighed overdramatically.

"What?" she asked like they were pulling her from an important meeting, when in reality, she was playing candy crush online.

"Have Meredith Grey or Damian Clark been admitted to this hospital?" Derek all but yelled at the arrogant nurse.

She made big movements to show her annoyance when she searched their names.

"No. Anything else?" she asked in a tone that neither of them could identify.

"Nope. Thanks for your help," Alex said bitterly, with as much disdain and contempt as he could muster.

When they were back in the car, he quickly pulled out of the parking lot, and headed for Seattle Pres.

"We chose the wrong hospital," Derek frowned.

"Derek," Alex said and glanced at his already grief-stricken friend.

"We could be too late," he muttered almost inaudibly, but Alex still heard it.

* * *

Arizona's face dropped. Meredith had a _kid_? Meredith was _kidnapped_? Meredith was _shot_?

This was a lot to take in. They had just been in a plane crash. It's barely been a year!

"Arizona?" Megan asked. "What's wrong."

"I need to..I need to make a call," she hopped off the bed and walked far enough away so Megan wouldn't be able to hear her.

"Pick up...pick up, pick up, pick up," she muttered.

"Hi, you've reached Dr. Derek Shepherd. I'm probably in surgery, so call back later or leave a message."

She frantically scrolled through her contacts list and without checking the ID twice, pressed call.

"Arizona?" came a light voice.

"April?"

"Why are you calling?" the trauma surgeon asked. "Did you hear about Meredith?"

"I did, but I didn't exactly mean to call you." _Curse the similarity of Alex and April's last names!_ "Have you heard from Derek? I can't get a hold of him."

"The two idiots decided to play hero and go after Damian. Alex is with him."

"Are you kidding me?"

"What?" April asked.

"Damian won't be there, and they're going to freak out. But they have no reason to."

"What do you mean?"

"She's here," Arizona sighed.

"Why is Meredith at your house?"

Realizing no one knew of her consult, she said, "No, she's at Seattle Pres."

"Oh thank god! Wait, why is she there? Is she injured? What's her status? Is he there too?"

The questions flooded through the phone.

"April, slow down. Yes, she's injured. I have no clue what her injuries are, and if he's here or not. Though, I assume he is."

She heard silence.

"April?"

* * *

April hung up after Arizona answered her questions. She immediately ran to the chief to let him know Meredith's been found.

She found Owen in his office with Webber, Sloan, Jackson, and Callie. They looked at her curiously.

"They found Meredith," she said, panting.

"Is she alright?"

April shook her head, and the other surgeons deflated instantly. Meredith was never alright.

"She's at Seattle Pres. Arizona didn't know much."

"Arizona?" Callie asked, a little worried.

"She was in for a consult," she said.

 _Why wouldn't Arizona tell me about this? This is huge!_ Callie put her feelings aside, knowing this wasn't the time.

"What about Damian?" Jackson asked.

"He's there too, I think."

"We'll need to alert the police if they haven't been already," Owen said firmly, as if someone would argue with him.

They all stood, excluding Hunt. He was the only one who was still on his shift.

After a concise phone call to the Chief of Surgery at the rivaling hospital, Owen paged a few surgeons to his office. A small group formed. It wasn't nearly as large as the one from earlier. It was only Bailey, Lexie, and Cristina. Derek and Alex went AWOL, and everyone else was already informed.

Taking in Owen's solemn face, Lexie asked, "Is she dead?"

"What? No!"

"Oh, for a moment there I thought you were going to say…" she trailed off.

"Well if she isn't _dead_ ," Cristina glanced at Lexie. "Then why are we here?"

"She's at Seattle Pres, being treated for a GSW to the chest and left leg."

He barely finished his sentence before Cristina and Lexie bolted out of the room. Bailey remained standing. She shut the door, and momentarily forgot Owen's presence. She slid down the wall and let herself cry softly. He'd never seen her emotional before and quietly left his office, leaving her alone.

* * *

After accidentally calling April instead of Alex, she sat back down next to Megan.

"Meredith's your mom?" Arizona had tried to suppress her shock, but failed quite miserably.

"Yes," she answered slowly. "Wait, do you know her?" her voice was suddenly filled with joy.

"I do. I work with her."

"She works here?" Megan's asked.

"Oh, no, no, no. She doesn't. I'm just here for one patient. I work at SGMW."

"That's even better!"

"Now that I know who you are, I can see the resemblance." Arizona admitted.

Megan's face lit up, "I look like her?"

"You do. It's alarming how I didn't notice it sooner."

"When can I see her?"

"They're more than likely in surgery repairing the damage. You'll get to see her soon."

The two fell into silence for a moment, before Arizona asked, "Are you here alone?"

"No," Megan answered. "Her friend is here too, I don't know where though. I think she might have convinced one of the doctors to let her monitor the surgery."

"I think she said her name is Izzie? She's the one who stopped Damian from shooting us. Well...again."

"You're safe now, ok?" Arizona told her, and pulled her into a hug.

She led Megan to the waiting room.

Arizona was waiting against a nurse's station and looking expectantly every few seconds at the doors. A few minutes later, Richard, Jackson, and Callie burst in.

"Mama!" her daughter yelled gleefully.

She spun around after picking Sofia up. When she wasn't looking, Arizona looked at Callie, which said 'Why did you bring her here?'

"My shift is over. Daycare is for surgeons who are on-call."

She looked from her wife back to her daughter. How lucky she was to have her.

At this point, Sofia was back on the ground, walking in circles around Richard.

Arizona went to go talk to one of Meredith's surgeons. Minutes had passed before the next wave of people came through the doors. Cristina, Lexie, Mark, and Bailey joined the others.

They were all together, and they looked at Arizona to fill them in the second she came back.

She sighed before speaking, "She had a tension pneumothorax in her right lung, and it was quickly fixed with a needle thoracostomy. Ribs 3-5 are fractured. The bullet landed dangerously close to her heart and hit her aorta. They're trying to stop the bleeding now."

They all knew that it was touch-and-go, but the one thing that mattered was that she was stable...for now.

"As for her leg, it was through and through. Distal pulses remain strong, and the leg is neurovascularly intact," Arizona reported.

The group visibly relaxed. At last, this horrible day was coming to an end.

Both Callie and Cristina managed to force Arizona away from the group so they could ask their questions. They all had their own specialties. Orthopedics and Cardiothoracic surgery being theirs, they knew of all the things that could go wrong.

* * *

Megan watched from a distance as two people cornered Arizona, who was fumbling with her words. They were bombarding her with questions. She quickly realized that they were Meredith's friends. Her eyes moved to the people slumped in chairs. Were they all here for her? She fantasized what her life would

have been like if she had been raised by Meredith. All those people would be in her life. Megan smiled, but it faded when she realized that it wasn't reality.

When she looked back up, Arizona was still cornered. She found that she couldn't sit still, and was walking to the trio without a second thought.

"Megan!" Arizona jumped when she appeared behind her. "Uh.." she didn't know how to introduce the teen.

"Dr. Robbins," she addressed the surgeon formally, not wanting to blow up Meredith's life more than it already had been. Megan had already decided to not let her mother's friends know about her. "Sorry to interrupt, but can I steal you for a moment?"

"Sure," Arizona said quickly, and let Megan drag her away. "What's up?"

"I want to know how Meredith is," she said sternly.

"You didn't have to separate me from them to ask."

"Don't you think it would be weird if some teenager that they'd never seen before was asking about her?"

"I suppose it would be, yes," Arizona replied truthfully.

"Now, will you tell me how she is, or do I have to announce myself to the world to get an update?" Megan never used that tone, but being nice was getting her nowhere, and she was quickly growing impatient.

* * *

Alex pulled into the visitor's parking lot at Seattle Pres. The sound of the doors closing echoed throughout the car garage.

"Derek," Alex said, noticing he was in a far-off state.

"Hmm?"

"If she were dead, you would be the first to know," he knew what Derek was thinking. "Remember that."

They approached the front of the hospital, and they tried to stand tall, hoping that that would ensure good news.

"Ready?" Alex asked.

"No, but I have to."

Derek sighed, while Alex pulled open one of the glass doors, and they entered. They felt at home when they were at SGMW, but here they felt hopeless. Gone were the 'Doctor's' titles, and they entered as the worried family in the waiting room.

* * *

"Dammit!" the surgeon yelled.

"Every time I repair one, another bleed pops up!"

The surgeon is taken out of his fury when the heart monitor flatlines. His head whips to the screen, before looking down at his patient.

"Hand me the paddles!" One of the nurses complied, and hastily retrieved what he requested.

"Charge to 200!"

After a moment he shouted once more, "Clear!"

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive Criticism is welcomed!


End file.
